Ash glared at the man in his doorway and asked in a stern voice, "Who are you again?"
Wesley gulped feeling fear swell in his stomach, "Uh…my name is Wesley. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I'm to be Faith's watcher."
The scarred man looked at him and said with a smirk, "Well, Wussley."
He said quietly, "Wesley."
Ash nodded, "Right, Wussley. Anyway, the name's Ash. Faith's my niece over on the couch, and that's our friend, Xander."
Ignoring the comment on his name, he said, "Anyway, it's nice to meet you Ashley."
Ash said in a strong voice, "Ash. Just Ash."
Wesley nodded not wanting to cross the man. "Sure. Ash, anyway. I'm here to help train Faith with becoming the next vampire slayer."
The former promised one said, "No you aren't. Xander and myself are going to train her. I don't want any four-eyed tweed wearing bookworm to train my Faith, y'hear."
The new watcher finally said with determination. "Listen, Mr. Williams."
Ash gave him a look.
He adjusted himself, "Listen, Ash. The Watchers' Council has sent me to train young Ms. Williams. I assure you that your caringness is duly noted, but I must train her."
Ash said, "I don't care about any Watchers Council, Wussley. I'm through with following tradition when it comes to destiny. The only way for my niece to survive is if she has some proper training from a guy who's fought for his life. Not some guy who's spent his college years with a book in his face!"
"Now, see here, Mr. Williams."
"Stop this," Xander said as he approached the two facing men. "Faith is going to need all the help she can get. Now, settle down." He then glanced at his co-worker, "that means you."
Ash gave an innocent look, "What did I do?"
Faith reached her uncle, friend, and new watcher, "C'mon, Jeeves. Uncle Ash is just looking out for me. If you knew what he's been through, you'd understand."
Wesley nodded, "Right. The Necronomicon. Statement received."
Ash showed a confused look, "You know about that damn book."
He said calmly, "I'll tell you all about it if we can sit down."
Faith smiled, "No problem. This way."
With that said, the four of them went over to the living room. Faith, Ash, and Xander sat down in their previous seating arrangements. Wesley sat down in the other chair.
When settled, Wesley started, "Right. The Watchers' Academy has their students study ancient books from all folklore. The Necronomicon is one of those books. We were able to get some notes about it from Raymond Nolby."
Ash asked, "Nolby? That's the guy who made the tape."
The Englishman said, "That he did. Mr. Nolby wrote a set of notes and a recorded tape. He sent the notes to the council first, and made the tape second. That was the last time we heard about him. From the notes he sent, we learned that the a 20th century man was to be sent back to Medieval Europe. You, Mr. Williams, were that man."
Ash immediately stood up and glared at him, "You mean to tell me that your fuckin' council knew about that book and you didn't do anything about it. You let me get sucked into that damn time period! Do you have any idea how I much I went through! Do you know I had to dismember my girlfriend to save her soul!?"
Wesley said calmly, "We understand that you'd feel that way, Ash. But from what we learned from the notes, it was only meant for you to go through. No one from the council could interfere."
"So that's your excuse? Just because from what it says in a damn book, you let it happen? I know for a fact that that didn't stop Xander here."
At the mention Wesley turned to the young man, "You're not Alexander Harris, are you?"
Xander gulped, "Yeah, I am."
"Well," he began, "You know that Ms. Summers passing was foretold, and because of your interference, we have two slayers to deal with now."
He said with venom, "Excuse me if I didn't want to see my friend die. Excuse me if I didn't want to see her not coming to school the next day. I wanted her to live, Wes. So, I dragged Angel down to the lair and performed CPR."
"I must say, Mr. Harris. You put the whole prophecy into jeopardy."
"So, what if I did. I brought Buffy back to life. Now, she's alive. And you have two slayers. If you ask me, two slayers are better than one."
The Englishman nodded and said calmly, "That is correct. And this time, Mr. Harris. The Council sent me to help train Faith while she's still gaining her powers. And I'm afraid that your help isn't needed."
Ash said sternly, "Shut your hole, Wussley. Faith is going to get trained by all three of us. I don't like you training her. But I don't want her to die. So, I'm going to swallow my pride, and help my niece."
Xander nodded, "As am I, Wes. But right now, I got an appointment to keep. If you don't mind, I got to get going."
Faith nodded, "That's cool, X. We'll see you tomorrow."
Ash nodded, "Yeah, after you talk with Kevin. Call me, and Faith and I'll help you patrol."
He smiled, "Sure. I'll see you later. And Wesley?"
Wesley answered, "Yes?"
"Treat Faith well. And let us help her. I'll see you tomorrow."
The watcher slumped into his chair, "We shall see about you helping Ms. Williams, Mr. Harris."
Ash glanced up at his chainsaw and said to the other man, "Lemme say this, Wesley. You either let us help train Faith, or I'll get my chainsaw here and do a little surgery. And, I didn't take the Hippocratic Oath."
He gulped, "Acknowledged."
With that said, Xander left the cabin and jumped into his car. He was about to turn the car on when he looked into the night sky.
It was completely tranquil and peaceful. The only light came from inside the cabin and the lamppost that was at the foot of the driveway.
His eyes smiled when they saw the wholeness of the moon. It was painted white with the few speckled gray circles that created the craters. Stars scattered the sky giving the earth the needed light to see his surroundings.
There were no sounds, no cars backfiring, or no cries for help.
It was one of those random peaceful nights that Xander learned to cherish. He only wished he had Buffy with him. To see her smile would make this picture even more memorable.
To have her with him would be perfect. To have her snuggle with him under the sky. To have their arms wrapped around each other giving the needed feeling of sercurity and love.
Only if Buffy felt the same way about him. Only if she realized that he cared a great deal about her.
With a sigh, he knew the truth. Buffy was the unattainable. The one person that held his heart, and never realized the way he felt. But that didn't stop him. He had to show her the truth about him. Show her the inner Xander, the inner person that nobody else saw. Not even Willow. He had to be truthful to her about everything and be what she needs him to be. And hopefully when time went on, she would realize her inner feelings and try things with him.
True that was hoping a lot. But, he couldn't get that dream out of his mind. For the first time in years, he had it again last night. Nothing different about it, but it did happen. Why now?
He shook his head. Stupid question. All on his mind this past week was Buffy. His subconscious mind must've gotten involved with it which released the dream.
Xander casually looked down at his watch and realized that he had to get going. So, he turned on the ignition, roared the engine to life, and drove off.
"Anything, Herc?"
Hercules sighed as he closed the book he was reading. "Nothing out of the ordinary. That includes anything to do with my family too."
Xander sighed as he slumped into his chair. "This is getting insane. We've been trying for a week, and nothing Hercules. When are we going to find anything on this ghost? I'd say we could call the Ghost Busters but I don't want to cause to much attention to what we're doing."
The demigod nodded, "You're probably right, but I wouldn't rule them out. Remember, they did stop Ghozer about a decade ago."
The teenager nodded, "Yeah. I remember that. Was kinda young then, but the Ghost Busters were really cool. I mean how cool was it for them to go against the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man. But if it were me, it would be that guy on the Twinkie bags."
The son of Zeus chucked, "Something tells me you're probably right. Thinking of the Ghost Busters is all in good fun, but we need to focus on this."
Xander said with determination, "Right. So what do we know at this moment?"
Hercules replied, "One, Buffy's in LA. Two, you have to stop it before finding her. Three…three…three. Uh, we don't have a three, do we?"
He sighed, "Guess not. But I know I'm going to fight this thing and then I'll finally find her."
The actor smiled, "Yeah, you'll find her. And with my help."
Xander added, "As well as Ash and Faith."
He showed a confused look, "Faith?"
The boy chuckled, "Sorry, forgot to tell you. I met Ash's niece today, and it turns out that she's a slayer. Ash, her watcher, Wesley, and I are going to train her. Make her a strong slayer so she'll survive longer than her predecessors."
"Oh," the demigod said in realization. "so it looks like you're gaining more and more friends."
Xander smiled, "Yeah, I guess I am. Not that there's anything wrong with that."
He laughed slightly, "Nothing wrong there, Xander." Glancing at the clock, he said, "well, we're obviously not going to get anywhere tonight. Want to patrol?"
The teenager shrugged, "Sure. Lemme call Ash, Faith, and Wesley."
Hercules said, "You know, Xander. Having friends want to patrol with is great, but I don't want to keep hiding my abilities to everyone. Why not you and me just patrol. Ash, Faith, and Wesley could patrol on their own."
He stated, "I know. But you should've seen what happened back at the cabin. Ash and Wesley nearly killed each other. Well, actually, Ash was going to kill Wesley. If I don't go with them, that will happen."
The television star said, "I understand. You patrol with them tonight. Tomorrow after work while it's still day out, we'll try and do some basic searching?the old fashion way."
Xander asked, "You sure you don't want to patrol with us?"
Hercules nodded, "Yeah. Not tonight. Like I said, tomorrow after work."
"Not a problem. Can I use your phone?"
Hercules went to his cell phone and suddenly remembered, "Don't you have one?"
He nodded, "Yeah, I do. I forgot it back at the apartment."
The actor grabbed his phone and tossed it to him. "Here you go, Xand."
Xander smiled, "Thanks." He then started to dial when he paused. The boy turned back to face his friends, "Couldn't you get your family involved in this?"
Hercules looked at his friend, "I've thought about it, Xander. Ares wouldn't do it. Aphrodite wouldn't know how to deal with a ghost. Hades might work, but remember, Hades only has souls from his time period. There's a chance that this ghost is recent."
Xander sighed, "What you say makes sense."
He shrugged, "Sorry to disappoint you."
The boy said, "Don't worry about it, Herc. I'll just call the others, and we'll get going."
With that said, Xander called his friends, and the four of them arranged a meeting time for them to patrol. When finished, Xander said goodbye to his friend, and left for his apartment to pick up supplies.
"Alright, Faith."
Faith turned to her right and saw her new watcher standing right next to her, "Yeah, Jeeves?"
Wesley said calmly, "This is your first patrol, and against my better wishes, we also have your uncle and your friend."
Ash looked at him, "Is that a problem?"
He gulped, "Well, actually…"
With a lopsided grin, Ash petted his chainsaw hand with his normal. "Yeah?"
The Englishman quickly covered himself, "Of course it's not a problem, I just find it wrong for a watcher to have to slay the undead with two other people that are not slayers."
Xander smiled, and stated calmly, "I can understand that, but think of it this way. Ash is the former promised one. He's been through this kina stuff before. I've been fighting vampires for a year and a half now. And. I've saved Buffy's life at least three times."
Faith showed a confused look, "Three times? What happened? You only told us about when B had to slay that Master vampire guy."
The teenager nodded, "Yeah, well there is that. Then there's the time when Teresa was about to kill her. I dusted her with the leg of an easel. Then I pulled her out of a hole that had fish people swimming around inside."
The newly being accustomed slayer smiled, "I'm glad I became friends with you, X. I could use all the help I could get."
Wesley sighed, "I still believe that you don't need any more help training wise. I've been trained by the Council, and assure you that I know methods of combat like Tai Kwan Do as well as other Martial Art methods."
Ash said determinedly, "Those methods are nice and all, Wussley."
The watcher said with venom, "Wesley, Ash. Please refrain yourself from calling me Wussley. I rather distaste the name."
Xander sighed, "Why did you have to say that, Wes?"
He showed a confused look, "Say what?" The scarred man smiled evilly, "As I said before, Wussley. Those methods are predictable. I don't know how those methods are in battle, but I prefer to be spontaneous. That way, your opponent doesn't know what hit them."
Wesley glared at the man that was becoming someone that he rather disliked, "Now, you see here, Mr. Williams. That fighting style is likely to put you in the hospital. There's no form, no balance, and no organization. If you ask me, it's rather sloppy."
He picked up Wesley by the collar and brought him face-to-face, and said calmly, "Listen, Wesley. And listen good. I don't like you, and unless I misread you, you don't like me. But there's one thing that we have in common, and that's Faith. We both want her to become the better fighter and survive. So, unless you want me never to state the Hippocratic Oath, I'd seriously keep acting like the jack ass you are."
Wesley took a deep breath, "Well, Ash. Unhand me this instant. I may go by the books when it comes to fighting methods, but I assure you, I've been trained by the best, and that's no lie. Everyone at the Watchers' Academy has learned these methods and their slayers have lived longer than the ones in the past."
Xander approached the two bickering men and grabbed them by the forearms. Then he separated him, "I've had enough from you two. All you seem to do is yell at each other. You both have points, and their good ones, but you need to stop. You're acting like the way I acted with Angel."
The Englishman said, "What makes you the voice of reason, Mr. Harris?"
He said honestly, "I just don't want any more bloodshed to be caused by fighting. Because of that, I lost Kendra. True, I didn't know her that well, but she was a person I knew. I've lost her, Jenny Calendar, and my best friend, Jesse McNally. I don't want the same thing to happen to Faith here."
Ash sighed and said, "The kid's right. If you stop your moaning on how to do things properly, then I'll try and tolerate you. It's going to be a while before I actually treat you with respect." He then glanced at his niece, "and I believe you can see why."
Wesley reset his collar, "And I'll try and respect you, Ash. It's just that I haven't been trained to work well with others. You see, Watchers and Slayers have a relationship that sets them up for fighting the vampires. We are not used to have other people try and help us."
Xander stated, "Well, I help because I don't want to see anyone else I know die. That and I can't just sit around and do nothing while people are dying left and right. The whole time wondering why people are, and wondering what will happen to me?"
Faith said, "Which I why I wanted to help you patrol, Uncle Ash."
He grinned, "I appreciate that, Faith. But I didn't want to lose you. Now, that I found out that you're a vampire slayer, we're going to make sure you get all the help you can get."
Wesley nodded, "I must admit. You really do care about each other enough to want to help train her, Mr. Williams. The same goes for you, Mr. Harris. This is going to be hard for me to allow."
Ash nodded, "Yeah, this is going to be hard. But, I'm willing to work on this problem with you."
The boy grinned, "Well, was that so hard?"
"I don't know. I keep wondering what would happen if we killed one of you."
Ash smirked, "I was hoping to get some action tonight."
Wesley nodded, "Now, Ash. Remember, tonight's patrol is to get Faith some training." He turned to face his new slayer, "watch me?"
He was cut off by a vampire who punched him in the stomach causing the Englishman to fall to the ground winded. "Bloody hell." He said outloud.
That same demon was about to launch himself on his prey when he heard a buzzing noise. He turned around and saw a man with a chainsaw revving attached to the limb.
With a lopsided grin, Ash said, "Come get some."
The vampire looked at this prey that was still lying on the ground and at his other comrades. "Ivy, Mack, Huck go kill them. I got this maniac!"
With that said, James ran to the scarred man. "No chainsaw can kill me?"
Ash chuckled, "Want to make a bet?" He then ran the blade of the chainsaw down his arm separating the limb from the body.
James snarled, "What the fuck did you do?"
He smirked, "Oh, didn't you see? I guess not. Here, let's try this again." Then he cut off his other arms followed by his legs. "What are you gonna do now?"
James' body fell to the ground. He tried to move, but with no limbs, he couldn't move. "You're dead!"
"Look Mom." Ash said as he yanked the demon by the shirt. "No hands." He then decapitated the demon watching it burst into dust.
"Groovy."
Ivy's eyes turned yellow as her game face appeared, "What ever you say, Jim." Then she threw herself at Xander. She pinned him down to the ground and gazed into his eyes. "Don't worry. This won't take long."
She then opened her mouth allowing her fangs to glisten in the moonlight.
With a grunt, Xander tightly grabbed his stake from his right hand and growled at her, "I don't think so." He then flipped her over until he was on top.
Ivy grinned, "I thought you'd like the top."
Xander sat up on his knees and brought both hands to meet at the wooden weapon. "You're not in the position to make remarks."
The vampiress said seductively, "Oh, but I do. You see, this one time at band camp. I shoved my flute up my pussy."
His eyes widened, "What?"
Before he or she could do anything else, Ivy suddenly felt something pierce through her gut. She turned around and saw the face of the attacker. "Son of bitch!" She yelled out loud.
Wesley grinned, "You see, Faith. That is one way to stake a vampire."
Xander smiled and got to his feet, "Thanks, Wesley." He then scanned his surroundings. "What happened to the other vamps?"
He smiled, "I staked the one called Mack after getting off the ground. Mr. Williams looked like he dismembered that head vampire, and I must say quite effectively. I don't know what happened to that other one."
He asked, "What other one?"
As if on cue, the three heroes heard someone yell, "What do you think you're doing?"
The three of them turned to see Faith whipping a roundhouse across the vampire's face.
Faith smiled, "Just a little footwork." Satisfied, the new slayer took the stake that she held in his right hand and plunged it in the demon's chest. "That was easy enough."
Ash smirked, "You didn't do half bad, Faith."
She grinned. "That was the plan."
Wesley added. "After staking my guy I saw her, Ash. She was actually handling herself pretty well for a while."
Ash nodded, "Nice one, but you could use some work." He then looked at his watch. "Listen kids. Xander and I got work in the morning. I assume that means Wes is going to do some training with Faith."
Wesley smiled, "That would be an excellent idea."
Ash said, "Treat her well. If she says you went out of line, I'm seriously going to train her myself." You got that."
He nodded, "Understood. I guess this means that this is a trial run. In your eyes I assume."
The clerk said, "You got that right. Think of this as a trial run."
Wesley dusted himself off. "Consider your niece in good hands. You won't regret this."
He stated with venom, "I better not."
Xander smiled, "Good. I'll see you later."
With that said, Xander went over to where he parked his car, jumped in, and drove off.
As soon as he left, the three of them faced each other.
Faith smiled, "I like him, Uncle Ash. He obviously has some experience."
Wesley said, "I concur. All those years on the Hellmouth has done him well."
Ash and Faith looked at each other and then at the watcher, "Hellmouth?" They asked in unison.
Xander sighed as he got out of his car. It has been an extremely long day for him. All he wanted to do was call Mrs. Summers, let her know what has been going on, and get a good night's sleep.
He stuck his finger through the key ring as he walked up the stairs.
"Hi, Xander."
Xander looked up at his visitor, "Hi, Jack."
Jack smiled, "You're getting in late."
He shrugged, "I've been with friends the whole night. I haven't been home since this morning."
The chef said, "No wonder. You look really tired."
"Well, I am. So if you don't mind me. I'm going to my apartment. I'll see you later. Night, Jack."
A grin was made, "I'm going to sleep in about an hour myself. Larry needs to talk to me. He told me to meet him at the Regel Beagle."
Xander nodded, "Tell him I said hi." Then he headed for his apartment. His eyes widened, and turned around to face the steps, "Who's Larry?"
Jack Tripper was already gone.
With a shrug, Xander opened his door, and went inside.
Xander plopped in his bed and closed his eyes for a second. When satisfied, he opened them and looked at the clock. Eleven thirty it read. "Only 11:30?" he asked himself.
There was still time to call her. After picking up the phone, he dialed the familiar number and awaited an answer.
It soon picked up, "Hello?" Asked a voice.
Xander smiled weakly, "Hi, Mrs. Summers."
Her voice suddenly lifted, "Hello, Xander. Didn't think that you were going to call me tonight."
He shrugged, "How could I not? I talked to Giles today and felt that I should just check up on you."
"That was sweet of you. I'm still worried about Buffy. Very worried in fact, but I think what you're doing is great. I feel better knowing that somebody is looking for her."
"Glad to help, Mrs. Summers. I've made some new friends and they're helping me."
"That's good to hear. You seem to be a very likeable young man."
Xander chuckled slightly, "I know. It's a curse."
"Curse nothing. From the first day I met you, I knew you'd have a good effect on my daughter. She needs you in her life. I hope that when you do find her, you can talk some sense into her."
He sighed, "I can try. But Buffy can be very stubborn."
"As I understand it from Willow, so can you."
"Guilty, Mrs. Summers. I tend to do that. But, like I said. I am looking for Buffy. I know for a fact that she is in LA. Have you tried her father?"
"I called Hank. He's looking for her too. I know Buffy, Xander. And when she doesn't want to be found, she doesn't want to be found. So, you two have to be on the look out for her. I'll give you his number so you two can talk."
Xander went inside his nightstand and pulled out a notepad. After grabbing the pen that was next to it, he opened it up. And said into the phone, "Alright. You can give it to me, Mrs. Summers."
"The number is 867-5309."
He grinned as he wrote down the number. "Thanks. I'll call him tomorrow."
Joyce said, "That's good to hear." Then her voice changed, "oh, and Xander?"
Xander tensed at her tone, "Yeah?"
She said carefully, "I talked to your parents."
His face suddenly paled, "Oh, you did."
"Yes, I did, Xander."
The teenager gulped, "How did it go?"
The mother sighed, "Why didn't you ever tell anyone about them?"
His head hung in defeat. Joyce Summers knew about his parents. But how much? From what he just heard, he knew she had some information on them. With Joyce knowing about Buffy not being around and her slayage. Mrs. Summers doesn't need to know any more lies. With a deep breath, he decided to be direct and honest.
"Because…I."
He could hear Joyce getting into a comfortable position. Well, maybe he couldn't hear her, but he could picture it.
Joyce was the opposite of his parents in every aspect. His parents weren't divorced, and she was. His parents drunk and were abusive. As far as Xander knew, Buffy's mother wasn't anything like that. It seemed to Xander, that Joyce was the type of mother that cared about her daughter deeply. Anthony and Jessica didn't really care about him.
Mrs. Summers cut his inner musings off, "I know this is hard, Xander. But, please. You can talk to me. You're doing a lot for me in looking for Buffy, and I want to return the favor. So, please. Tell me what's going on."
With those words, Xander's heart melted. Joyce's voice was so full of compassion, love, and respect. All the things that his parents seemed to lack.
"My parents…my parents…well, my parents…"
She said carefully, "You're parents what?"
He took a deep breath, and said quietly yet slowly, "They…they…they drink too much."
Joyce's voice became more frantic yet had that steady calmness. "I saw that when I went over to the house, Xander. They were obviously drunk."
Xander sighed, "They get drunk a lot."
With determination and sorrow in her voice, she asked, "How much is a lot?"
How much was a lot? Xander didn't know the exact number, but they went through a good amount of beer cans everyday. "Let me say this, they go through a couple 12 packs a week."
She questioned in an angered voice, "A couple 12 packs a week?"
Xander nodded, "Yeah. A couple. And they…they…they."
Buffy's mother said with concern, "They what, Xander? Do you mean to tell me that they hit you?"
Those words always hit Xander to the core. He couldn't hold it in anymore. Soon, tears started to well in his eyes.
The tears started to fall freely down his cheeks. Xander wasn't one for crying, but whenever he was alone and his parents' exploits were brought up, he couldn't hold it in. It hurt him too much. He started to cry openly.
"Xander?"
No answer.
"Xander, honey?"
Honey? No parent has ever called him that. No adult for that matter. Anthony and Jessica used to call him that when he was younger. That was of course before Catherine died. The day she died, everything changed. His parents lost most feelings for him. They shut down, and then they turned to drinking.
He tried to stop crying, but he couldn't. The pain was building up for over ten years.
Joyce's voice was filled with compassion, love, concern, and maternal instinct. "It's alright, Xander. I wish I could be there for you, but I can't. Please, tell me. Telling someone will be good for you."
Xander took a deep breath, "It's just that."
"Just what?"
The boy slowly stopped crying. When he fully composed himself, he said, "When Catharine died."
"Catharine? Who's Catharine?"
The teenager said slowly, "Catherine was my sister, Mrs. Summers."
Joyce asked with total surprise, "You're sister? You had a sister?"
He nodded, "Yes, I did. It happened over ten years ago. She died of pneumonia."
"Oh my god!" She cried, "I am so sorry, Xander."
Xander nodded, "It's alright, Mrs. Summers. It hurts sometimes, but I've learned to live with it. I always make to the cemetery the very same day she died. It's sorta of a ritual for me. We didn't have the money to save her. I wanted to cash my savings bonds, but my parents wouldn't have it."
He could hear her starting to tear up, "I loved her, Mrs. Summers. But, she died. That's part of life. I keep telling myself that. It's never easy, and my heart breaks every now and then. But, when she died. My parents shut down and turned to drinking. Soon, it took over, and they ignored me more and more. Then they started to hit me because I couldn't fill the void that Catharine left. That's when they started calling me an idiot. And they're right, Mrs. Summers. I am an idiot."
A deep breath was made, "I want you to listen to me, Xander. Alright? Listen to every word that I have to say."
"I'll listen."
Her voice suddenly lifted a little. "First of all, you aren't an idiot. You never were. You believe me right?"
He shook his head, "No, I am. I am a complete idiot."
Her voice raised, "Listen to me, Alexander Harris. You are not an idiot! You never were! You get that right?"
Xander sighed, "I'm not an idiot." (Yes, I am. I am a total screw up.)
"Good. You remember that. Now, I'm sorry about your sister, Xander. But that isn't an excuse for what your parents have done to you. As soon as you come home with Buffy, you are going to move out of your house. Do you have any uncle, aunt, or any other relative that you can move in with?"
Xander answered, "There's Uncle Rory. But; he always keeps to himself. "
"I see. Is there anyone else?"
Xander answered, "There's Willow and her parents. I've stayed over her house a few times in the past. She knows some things about my past, but not that much. It was never my choice to tell. My dad told me if he ever found out that I told someone, he would hunt me down and hurt me."
She said carefully, "Alright. When you get home, we'll call Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg and let them know what's going on. All of us we'll get together and we'll ask if you can move in with them. I'll do whatever I can to help make this transition easy for you, Xander. No child deserves what your parents have done to you. You understand that, right?"
He smiled, "I understand."
"Good. You'll move in with them, and we'll make sure that you and Buffy get back into school come this September. Don't worry about a thing. Just concentrate on finding my daughter, and I'll set up everything. Is that okay with you?"
"That works for me, Mrs. Summers. Thanks."
"Not a problem, Xander. I just wish you told someone before."
He shrugged, "Like I said before. Dad made me promise not tell anyone. And I didn't want to cross him."
"I understand that. But you don't have to feel that way anymore. Now, do you want me to tell Buffy?"
Did he want to tell Buffy? A small part of him screamed yes. But he couldn't even. Even though he wanted to bring Buffy back home and be the friend that she needed. The type of friend that held nothing back to create an even stronger bond, he couldn't. Not yet anyway.
After taking a deep breath, he said, "I can't, Mrs. Summers. Not yet anyway. It's just a hard subject to talk about."
"I understand, Xander. But, you did the right thing by telling me. All you have to do is call Buffy's father, compare notes with him, and find my daughter. Tell her what she needs to know."
Xander smiled, "Thanks again, Mrs. Summers. And I'll do that. If you don't mind, I got to get some sleep. I do have work tomorrow."
"Alright, Xander. Goodnight."
With that, she hung up the phone leaving Xander to do the same. When the phone was back in its cradle, he turned off the lamp that was by his bed on his nightstand, placed his head on the pillow, and drifted off to sleep.
Xander suddenly found himself in an apartment. It wasn't like any apartment, it was the apartment that he found Angel during the night of the Spring Fling.
"What the hell?" He asked himself. "What am I doing here?"
He scanned the room and it was exactly how he remembered it. It was dark as always, but one thing was different. He wasn't there. The vampire that he hated with a passion was not to be found.
"Xander Harris."
The voice caught him off guard, and yet it didn't. He turned around and saw exactly who the voice was coming from. With him gritting his teeth, he grunted, "Angel."
Angel walked up to the boy but kept a safe distance. "Hi, Xander."
Xander immediately went to pocket to pull out a stake, but he realized he didn't have one. "Shit." He cursed. The boy started to look around his surroundings, but didn't find anything made out of wood or something that could decapitate his visitor.
"You can't kill me. Even if you wanted to."
He glared at the vampire, "And why not? It's obvious that Buffy didn't kill you. You somehow found a way to come back, and you're going to start killing everyone. Well, listen here, Deadboy. You stay away from, Buffy! You stay away from everyone that I care about! If you hurt them, I'll kill you! Hell, why am I talking to you? Now, tell me. Where are your swords?"
Angel said calmly, "Easy, Xander. I'm not here to attack you, Buffy, or anyone else. I'm still in Hell."
Xander smiled weakly, "That's good. You finally got what was coming to you. So, is Hitler getting anything shoved up his ass?"
He shrugged, "Don't know. He's in the special sweet with Mussolini and Stalin. Those three are always together, and planning things."
"What are they planning?"
Angel smiled, "To make William's stay in hell unbelievably uncomfortable."
He showed a confusing look, "William?"
His grin appeared to widen, "Spike. Where do you think Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini got their ideas? I mean, look at him. Bleached blond with blue eyes. The perfect way to make sure no Nazi would harm him. Yet, it gave Spike the kind of attention he craved."
Xander said, "You know, I'm not surprised by that. But, why are you here?"
The vampire stated, "I'm here to talk to you, Xander."
He asked, "Why should I listen to you?"
Angel smiled, "You don't have a choice in the matter."
The boy glared at him, "There's always a choice, Deadboy."
All of a sudden, his hand tightly wrapped around a stake. "What the hell is going on?"
Angel took off his jacket, ripped open his shirt to reveal his chest. "If staking me is going to convince you that I'm not really here. Then do so."
Without hesitation, Xander sprang into action. He leapt forward and aimed for the heart. But the stake didn't touch skin, instead, it went right through, and Xander fell on his face.
"What is going on?" He asked the vampire as he got back to his feet,
He said, "What I'm trying to tell you. I'm not here. Well, I am, and I'm not. Angelus is being tortured down there. I'm Angel?Angelus' soul."
Finally undertanding, he faced him and said, "Let me get this straight. Angelus is down in hell, and I'm talking to Angel. You mean, Angelus' better half."
He nodded, "Exactly. I'm here to tell you something."
"And that is?" He said calmly.
Angelus' soul said, "I'm here to tell you that you did the right thing by lying to Buffy. You gave her the focus she needed to stop me."
Xander asked, "So lying was the right thing?"
He said, "Yes, it was. And I'm here to give you my blessing."
His eyes widened, "Blessing? What blessing?"
Angel said with a weak smile, "To go out with Buffy. I've dated Buffy a while ago, and I see the way she thinks about you. Buffy never admitted it, but she does have feelings for you."
He couldn't help the smile form on his face, "Buffy likes me?"
The vampire nodded slowly, "Apparently. Don't know why, you're kind of annoying."
Xander glared at him, "Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am too!"
"Are too!"
"Am too!"
"Are too!"
"Am too!"
"Are too!"
Xander sighed, "This is getting annoying, Deadboy." His eyes then narrowed, "How do I know you're not playing me?"
Then the room changed. The two were no longer in the confines of Angel's old apartment. They were now in Xander's apartment. His living room no less.
"What happened?" Xander asked in a surprised tone as he sprung upright from his seat on the couch.
Angel said as he got comfortable in the seat beside him on the blue couch, "I wanted to tell you this in a place where you'd be most comfortable. And that seems to be in you're apartment." He then looked around and smiled, "and I must say, Xander. Not a bad place. A little bright, but that's just me."
"Uh huh," the boy said taking in the change of scenery. Continuing on the aforementioned topic, he said, "As you were saying."
Angelus' soul said calmly "Right. Let me put this way, Xander. You and I can go like this for a very long time?an extremely long time. But, we have to face facts. Buffy has had two choices for boyfriends since she started Sunnydale High. There's you, and then there's me. Buffy and I had are chance, and all I ever gave her was pain. She lost friends because my curse wasn't permanent. I love her. There's no denying that, but I don't want her live her life in fear. Buffy's human, and she craves human contact. I can't give her that, but you can, Xander. I want you to find her, bring her home, and be the person that you are to her. Eventually she'll notice who you are, because I'm no longer in the picture. All you have to do is be there for her. It shouldn't take that long."
He relaxed momentarily, and then argued, "Why should I believe you?"
Angel stated, "Because, Xander. It's the truth. Whenever you were brought up by myself, she did hesitate sometimes. Face it, you and I are complete opposites. But she needs you, and I don't mean just as a friend, she needs you to be her boyfriend. I've seen slayers in the past. Like Buffy, some of them are adjusting to the slayage while trying to keep their normalcy in tact. But, as they grow, a lot of times, they lose their humanity and become all slayer. I don't want that to happen to her, so, she needs someone to help her through her problems, and that someone is you, Xander. You love her, I know it. She likes you too. You'll eventually enter a relationship. That is of course if you keep trying to hook up with her. Just because you asked her out once, and she turned you down. Doesn't mean you should give up trying."
Xander smiled, "Wow. You really thought this through."
He shrugged, "There's not that much to do in Hell. It eternal torment, but in order for myself to not become completely insane, I have to think of things so I can distract the pain. It's been six years since I left Sunnydale."
His eyes widened, "Six years? You've only been gone for a little over a week."
Angel nodded, "Yeah, you got that right. But, times passes differently there."
"Oh," he said in realization. "so let me get this straight. You'd be okay if Buffy and I started dating?"
Angel answered trying to withhold a wincing look. But he failed miserably. "I admit it's going to hurt. I have to remember one thing. Even though we won't be together anymore, I want her to be happy. And I know you can do that for her. Just promise me that you won't hurt her, Xander."
Xander grinned, "I won't, Dea…Angel."
The teenager couldn't believe what he was hearing. Buffy apparently liked him in a non-friendly manner. That was a complete mind blow. He had promised himself that if nothing happened over the summer and within the first few weeks of his senior yeah, he'd give up on her and try and make it work with Cordelia. But now? He wouldn't give up on his love?on his Buffy. Now, he knew that Xander wasn't wasting his time trying to go out with her. What Angel just told him made it worthwhile.
But to make it work properly, he had to allow the time for growth, he had to allow Buffy's feelings for him to evolve. Right now, she needed a friend, and that's what he'd do. He would be her friend first, and then her boyfriend.
"Xander?"
The voice brought him back to reality, "Sorry. Mind wandered."
Angel noticed the smile on his lips. "I bet. You're thinking about Buffy aren't you?"
Xander sighed, "Yeah, I am. I can't believe you're letting me have a chance with her."
The vampire said, "I just know what's best for her. Or I try to know what's best for her. Buffy is the one that knows what's best. Well, her mother knows too sometimes and don't forget Giles."
The boy nodded, "I understand, Angel. And I have to plan my cards right, don't I?"
He smiled, "Yeah, you do. But I know you can do it, Xander. I have faith in you."
All of a sudden he bent over and held his stomach, "Damn it!"
Xander said with care, "What's wrong?"
He has never been one to care about the vampire. The boy still hated him, he hated all vampires, and that will never change. But, Xander couldn't help but feel something for him. Angel just handed Buffy to him on a silver platter, and Xander wouldn't forget that. So, to some degree, he had to respect him.
"It's happening again!"
His eyes widened, "What's happening? What is it?"
His eyes widened, "What's happening? What is it?"
Angel grunted, "It happens whenever Angelus is being severely tortured. "
Xander asked, "What do you want me to do?"
The vampire looked up at him showing a concerned look, "Don't worry about me, Xander. Find Buffy. That's the important thing."
He nodded, "I know. I just wish there's something that I could do for you."
Angel smiled weakly, "Don't worry. I gotta go."
And with that, Angel vanished leaving Xander all by himself in his room. Suddenly, the door opened. The visitor came in and walked over to him. She smiled seductively and grabbed Xander into a hug holding him tight.
Xander knew that touch and smell. He twisted his body around so he could face her. With a big smile he said, "Hey, Buffy."
Her smile grew wider, "Hi, Baby."
Xander awoke the next morning with a wide grin on his face. He got out of bed and yawned. "What a dream." The boy murmured to himself.
He got out of bed and headed for the shower. As soon as he faced the mirror he noticed that his hair was a mess. "Don't you just hate bed head?"
Sighing to himself, he got out of his clothes, placed a towel in front of the shower, and went inside closing the door behind him.
Soon, the water started to pour out of the shower head and ran over his body. As he started cleaning himself, he couldn't help but remember his dream that night.
He didn't know if Angel was real or not, but he definitely liked what he dreamt. This was the first time he ever dreamt of Angel where the vampire didn't end up at the other side of the stake and become dust.
Why would he dream Angel not being dusted? It didn't make sense. He still hated vampires, but why didn't Angel become dust? The rest of the dream was normal. Buffy came to him, and the two of them started to do things.
Then it hit him. That wasn't a normal dream. Angel came to him and gave him his blessing. Apparently dating Buffy was alright with Angel.
Now, he knew that he was doing the right thing. Now, Xander knew that Buffy liked him in a more than friendly way. With a smile, he realized that this dream was the truth. It had to be.
Dreams were always way for the subconscious mind to communicate with the conscious mind. Dreams either scared you as a nightmare would, view the future, or provide a happy experience for the person themselves to enjoy.
This definitely wasn't a nightmare. If it was, Xander wouldn't of had the time to enjoy the presence of Buffy holding him. And this couldn't be a happy experience. Because if it was, Angel would've became dust, and he didn't. So, that meant that this was sorta of a prophetic dream. Angel was telling him that he would find Buffy and that eventually the two of them being Xander and Buffy would be together.
Soon, a grin crossed his lips knowing that the dream was the truth. He quickly finished his shower, dried off, dressed himself, ate breakfast, and left for S-Mart the whole time thinking about the future.
Even though he knew that more pain was in his future, he couldn't help but smile knowing that one day his love would be with him.
"Sorry, X!"
Xander chuckled as Faith pulled him up off the floor. "It's okay, Faith. Looks like you had another power surge there, huh?"
She shrugged, "I guess. I am a slayer after all."
He nodded as he stood up. "Yeah. You are. One thing I noticed though is that you're 'power surges' are coming closer together then they were in the past."
The Slayer grabbed two bottled waters from the small fridge that sat in the newly formed training room, and threw one to her friend, "Catch."
Xander caught it with ease, "Thanks."
Ash asked Xander to help him design a room in the cabin for Faith to train during the last five days. Wesley on the other hand, took those five days and trained her outside the cabin into his apartment. The idea started to come together really well since there was already another room, but nothing was done to it, so this idea put better use to it.
Together, they worked on it for a long time. They laid out a blue mat in the center of the room. To the left was a hoarse that gymnasts would use. A couch was by the other wall, which was next to the small refrigerator that had bottled waters inside. A dummy was on the other side of the fridge.
When Faith saw the finished product, she had this incredibly bright smile. It was very rare for her to get something as a present. Her parents weren't the types to do the present thing. The only person who did was her uncle and now apparently Xander and even Wesley.
Wesley, Xander, and her uncle formed the family that she needed. True, Ash was only her uncle, but in actuality he became her father. Xander became her brother and best friend. Even though they met a week ago, the two of them talked a lot and helped each other out. Xander helped train her and was someone to talk to that was close to her age. True Wesley was annoying, and at times her uncle and him were at each other's throats. Wesley was the uncle. It seemed like Wesley and Ash were brothers. The two of them already acted like they had the sibling rivalry thing down. But Wesley did have her best interest at heart. True, he did go by the book, but she knew that he did care for her.
She looked at her friend who glanced at the floor. "What's wrong? You still thinking about B, huh?"
Xander nodded, "Yeah. It's been over a week, Faith. And nothing."
Faith sat down on the couch and was shortly joined by her friend. She took a sip of her water and said, "You're trying, X. We all are. You yourself have done more work for B here then I thought any other person would do. You've got connections like nobody does. You know Kevin Sorbo, us, and you even talked to Buffy's father. You'll find her. I have no doubt in my mind that you won't."
He nodded, "I know I'll find her. I just wish that I was close."
"Yeah, now how about you help me with more training. After all, like you said, my 'power surges' are getting closer."
His eyes widened, "Did you just say 'my 'power surges' are getting closer'?"
Faith shrugged, "Yeah, so?"
He grinned, "That means I'm getting closer to find Buffy."
She showed a confused look, "How can you be so sure?"
Xander answered, "Giles told me the whole story. Basically, both slayers are going to be at full capacity when the other one is feeling better about themselves. So…"
Faith continued, "So now that my 'power surges' are coming closer together, Buffy is feeling better about herself."
The boy grinned, "Exactly. How do you feel about that?"
The Slayer said with a wicked grin, "Five by five."
Buffy Summers left the diner and headed back for her apartment alone.
It has been two weeks since the young woman left Sunnydale. She still was heart broken about Angel's departure into hell. But, Buffy was on her way to recovery.
A lot of that had to deal with her dreams from her spirit guide. Marvin or what he Buffy called him, Alex, shown her things that opened her eyes. She learned a lot about her flaws in a way that didn't hurt her feelings. Far from it. Alex showed her through dreams that she needed know.
Buffy learned that she had to be a team player. She learned that she had friends who would give their lives in order to protect her and make her have the life that she so craved within the last few years. All her friends cared a great deal about her, it was always those three people that meant something more to her now then they did before.
Giles, Willow, and Xander.
The three of them were always there for her, and now she knew. She also knew that of all of them, the one person that has been there the most was Xander.
True, Xander did lie to her, and it hurt her. But through Alex and as this past week went by, she understood why he did it. Xander wanted her to live, and how did she pay that back? She ran away from her mother and from her friends.
Even though she now realized that what she did was wrong, she wasn't ready to go back to Sunnydale yet. Buffy Summers was still a young woman who was in pain and heartache.
Anyway, Alex said that she wouldn't be fully ready to go home until Xander found her. Buffy knew that the two of them had to talk and knew that it was going to be tough for her to talk to him. He would be the first one of her friends from Sunnydale that she had to talk to.
She looked up into the sky and could see the sun disappearing from above, which allowed the transformation from day into night take place. The moon was about to rise and air would turn crisp.
Buffy sighed knowing what was ahead. More time for her to slay and fight the demons that she loathed so much to do.
Her hand immediately grabbed hold of the cross that hung across her neck. It was a new cross that she bought. Wearing the one that Angel gave her made her heart hurt even more. This cross that she now wore was gold and smaller than the silver one that he gave her. The gold cross signified a new beginning for Buffy. It signified that she wanted to move on with her life.
With a sigh and a clearing of the throat, she let go of the cross and went inside her pocket to rescue a stake that she newly sharpened with the knife that she bought from S-Mart that one time.
She headed for the nearest cemetery to do her routinely patrol.
As soon as Buffy arrived in Los Angeles, she promised herself that she would retire from the slaying. She didn't want to be the Slayer anymore and it hurt anybody that ever came close to her. It sent her boyfriend to hell, put Willow in a coma, Giles was tortured, and Xander broke his wrist.
But the slaying was something that she took back when she realized that it would help her get back into the swing of things.
She approached the cemetery as stealthy as she could muster. Buffy tried to be sneaky like a cat. Each step she made was ever so quiet. She walked differently then what she used to. Instead of stepping with the front of the foot first, she stepped with the heal. This new method proved quite effective and proved to be quiet which was what vampires didn't suspect.
The moon now appeared in the night sky and the rays of light danced over the grayness of the tombstones. Freshly green grass covered the ground.
"Come out, come out where ever you are." Buffy said under her breath. "I mean. Look what you have here. I'm just a small girl walking through a cemetery at night not knowing who could jump out from behind a gravestone."
She smiled, "And there's healthy blood flowing through my veins. That's what happens when you got a heart that's alive. It beats away as it pumps."
No answer.
She pouted, "C'mon. I'm alone. It's dark. The moon is full. If you ask me, I'm a perfect solution to get rid of a vampire's hunger."
Buffy sighed when nothing happened.
"Look at my skin. It's so white, pure. It covers my skeleton, organs, and warm blood. If I was a vampire, I know I would want to eat me."
All of a sudden she heard a roar coming from somewhere. There was enough light to look at the source. It was a light blue truck. Soon, two doors opened and out jumped five people.
She saw them run over to her.
One of them ran in front of the others and yelled at Buffy. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Buffy shrugged, "Just taking a walk. Is that so wrong?"
The voice said, "Normally, no. But you're in a very dangerous place at this time of night."
She smiled, "Why? I had a hard time at work, and just wanted to take a walk. I'm visiting my grandpa's grave."
"Uh huh." The man said as he looked at the grave the girl was standing in front of. "You're grandpa was named Alyson Tyler."
Buffy gulped, "Grandma Tyler had a sex change. He used to be named Steven Lee."
"Do you need any help, Gunn?"
Charles Gunn looked at his friend, "I don't think so, Man." The self-appointed male slayer looked turned back to the young woman in front of him, "I'll ask you again. Why the hell are you doing here? You trying to get yourself killed by vampires?"
Her eyes widened. This guy knew about vampires? Well, actually, knowing about vampires is nothing out of the ordinary. But, to cover what she was, she said in her defense with a nervous giggle. "Vampires? Something tells me you've seen way too many horror movies."
Gunn glared at her, "Horror movies nothing. Vampires exist, and if you stay in a cemetery any longer, you'll likely become one or you'll die. Plain and simple."
He watched her features and noticed that nothing he said seemed to trigger a surprising or scared look. "Did you hear me? I said, you'd die after seeing a vampire. You do know what vampires are, don't you? Demons in the form of humans, have fangs, face turns all bumpy when ready to attack."
She sighed, "I know what vampires are. Believe me, I know."
The four remaining men approached the two of them, "Then why are you at this time at night?" one of them asked.
The one known as George said, "Let Gunn handle this, Rondell."
Charles said, "If you know about vampires, then why are you out at night in a cemetery? You have a death wish?"
She immediately shook her head, "No. It's my destiny to fight vampires. I'm the slayer."
He looked at her in confusion, "Slayer? What's that?"
Buffy glared at him, "You know about vampires yet you don't know about vampire slayers?"
"Um, I heard of them."
Every one turned to see the new voice, "You've heard about these slayers, Bobby?"
Bobby nodded, "Yeah, I have, Gunn."
Gunn looked at him, "Mind filling us all in."
Bobby stated, "Sure. Slayers are girls that slay vampires and demons."
George glanced at him. "How do you know this?"
He answered, "Did some research. Went to the library."
Rondell looked skeptically, "You went to a library?"
Bobby nodded, "Yeah, I did. So?"
The last member of the crew known as James said, "You don't strike us as the library type."
Gunn said, "Guys, we're getting off topic here. Now, Bobby, what are these slayers?"
Buffy said in her defense, "I can tell you right now. As I said before, slayers are girls who have supers strength, speed, and other heightened sense."
Charles looked at Bobby, "She right?"
Bobby replied, "Yeah, she is."
Gunn nodded and looked at the young woman in front of them, "So it seems you're telling the truth. The name's Gunn. Over there are James, Bobby, George, and Rondell."
She grinned, "I'm Buffy."
George showed a weird look, "Buffy? The vampire slayer is named Buffy?"
The blond stared at him, "What's wrong with the name, Buffy?"
He was about to say something when Bobby grabbed his arm. "Don't go there, Man. Believe me."
George chuckled, "What's she going to do, knock a gravestone on top of me?"
Buffy stormed right up to him, "I can do a lot more than that!"
He said with a stern voice, "Prove it."
"Guys look out!"
The five of them turned to face James.
"What is it?" Gunn asked.
He pointed to some graves beyond them, "Vampires at 7:00!"
George said, "It's 9:00, Man."
James sighed, "No, I mean in the 7 o'clock direction!"
Buffy grinned as she tightened her grasp around her stake. "Now, you'll see what a slayer can do."
Gunn said, "Less talking, more staking!"
George nodded and withdrew his stake, "Right with you man."
The six vampire slaying humans looked as a horde of fifteen vampires approached them.
"Well looky what we got here." one of the vampires said to his crew.
Another demon said with a smirk, "It looks like dinner, Kurt."
Kurt sneered, "That's what I was thinking. How about you, Sammy?"
Sammy answered, "I was thinking that too. Now, how about we do something about it?"
Before another one of their crew could respond. Buffy grabbed a vampire by the left arm and threw him over her shoulder, and he landed on his back. "What the fuck are you?"
Buffy smiled, "I'm Buffy the vampire slayer."
That vampire's eyes widened, "The slayer?"
Gunn grinned, "That's what she said, Blooksucker." Then he slammed his stake into the demon's non-beating heart.
"This sucks," The demon said just before he crumbled into dust.
Sammy's yelled at Gunn, "I'm going to kill you for doing that to Mark."
He said with a grin, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here's what I think of your death threat." Then Gunn leaped at Sammy, pinning him to the ground. Then he jammed the stake into his heart.
As soon as the dust settled, Gunn looked to his left. Buffy, James, and George were fighting off six vampires.
To his right, Rondell and Bobby were fighting the remaining five. "I'm coming guys." Gunn said as he got back to his feet and charged the five vampires that Bobby and Rondell were fighting.
Buffy slammed Kurt into the neighboring tree. She took a few steps back and grabbed him by the collar. Raising the demon up by the cloth, she slammed him back into the bark.
The demon chuckled, "Why are you like this?"
She showed a confused look, "Like what?"
Kurt grinned, "Working with others. I've fought slayers before. And they all were by themselves. Yet, you're working with five humans."
Buffy smiled, "First of all. I'm surprised you can count. Second of all, lemme say this. I had a close encounter with the spiritual kind."
"Spiritual kind, huh?" Kurt asked her.
But before he could continue with anything, Buffy staked him. "I don't have time for this. They need my help."
She watched the dust scatter to the ground as she twirled around. Buffy asked, "You guys alright?"
James said, "Yeah, you can help me get the jack ass off of me."
She nodded as she sprinted to the fallen human. Buffy yanked the demon off of him and held him in place. "Easy target."
James grinned, "Thanks, Buffy." He then took the opportunity and slammed his stake into the demon. "With this guy down and you're guy. We at least have twelve to go."
Buffy nodded, "Yeah, but we'll get them."
George soon tackled a vampire that was headed for his friend and new ally. "I hate to stop the meeting of great minds, but we got vampires to dust."
She smiled, "Right." Then with her stake in her hand, she jammed it into another vampire's chest watching it crumble to ash.
For the next twenty minutes, the six humans fought with everything they had. Buffy, George, and James formed a trio and attacked their opponents in rhythm. At first it was a reckless mess of attacks, but soon, each one of the three learned from the other's attacking methods. Thus creating a somewhat organized fighting method.
Gunn, Bobby, and Rondell were fighting as well. To them, it was their typical fighting strategy which was very successful.
As soon as the last vampire crumbled into ash, Gunn looked toward Buffy, "Nice moves, Buffy."
The Slayer said, "I have to thank Giles as soon as I get back to Sunnydale."
Rondell asked, "Giles?"
She replied, "Giles is my watcher. He trains me so I can survive another night."
James said, "Sounds like a good man."
Buffy smiled, "He is. All my friends are. I just have to tell them that."
She said that without even thinking. Ever since her time with Alex, Buffy had been trying to use his lessons to her advantage. The blond tried to be a team player-someone that helped the members in the team so they can have a better chance to survive.
Buffy surveyed her surroundings and couldn't help but feel something positive in her heart. It felt good to help. It felt nice to know that she contributed in this and to be able to talk to people about the current battle they just had
True she did fight with her friends in Sunnydale. But they didn't have the strength and the strategy that Gunn and his crew had. She wanted more of that feeling, and knew how to get it.
Buffy would go back to Sunnydale and set up group training sessions. With the help of Giles and herself, she would able to train Willow, Oz, Cordelia, and Xander. They needed her help as a friend.
Of all of them, Xander was probably the one that would make the best fighter. True, he didn't have the supernatural power like Oz's werewolf ability and Willow's upcoming witch ability. But he had the army knowledge. Buffy was sure that he had some hand-to-hand fighting skills. However, he needed to know how to handle them and use them to his advantage.
That is where she would come in. With her and Giles training him, he could become a much better fighter. They all could become better fighters and the demons of Sunnydale wouldn't be the luckiest set of demons in the world.
Realizing this, she couldn't help the smile form on her lips. Buffy wanted a team like Gunn had. She wanted her friends to be strong, and in order to do this, she had to train them. She promised herself she would too.
"Uh…Buffy?"
Buffy looked at Rondell, "Yeah, Rondell?"
"Why are you in LA?"
She sighed, "I really don't want to answer that. My life right now is in real turmoil, and it hurts to talk about it."
Gunn nodded, "I get that, Buffy. Believe me, I do. Why don't you come with us to my crib?"
She looked back at her watch and realized that it was still pretty early. "Cool. But I can't stay long. Work tomorrow."
James said with surprise, "You work?"
Buffy crunched her face, "Yeah, I work. Anything wrong with that?"
Gunn shook his head, "Not at all. Pays the bills."
A smile was made, "I definitely need the money too."
George grinned, "C'mon. Let's go."
And with that, the vampire hunters headed back to Gunn's crib.
"So how are things with Faith?"
Xander said, "Going good. Faith's slayer abilities are coming closer together."
He got the idea, "Which means Buffy is feeling better."
Xander slumped onto the stool and turned to Hercules, "Exactly. So, how's the show going?"
Kevin Sorbo stated, "We're planning ideas for the next season. Wait till you see it. Things don't look good for Iolaus."
He asked, "Why? What happened to him?"
The demigod shrugged, "He dies."
This time the boy sighed, "Again? He dies more times then Buffy."
Hercules chuckled, "Yeah, that seems right. Iolaus hasn't had the best luck when it comes to dying."
Xander smiled, "I just discovered something that we have in common."
"Which is?"
The teenager said, "We both bring our friends back from the dead."
He nodded, "That we do. That we do. So, what do you want to do tonight?"
Xander shrugged looked at his watch, and then said, "I got to go."
The actor showed a confused look, "Why?"
Her grinned, "Faith's birthday. She'll be 16."
Hercules smiled, "16's a great age. I remember when I was that age."
Xander grinned getting an idea, "How long ago was that?"
The demigod chuckled, "Let's just say it was a long time ago. A very long time ago."
He sighed, "Oh, ok." Getting another idea, he said, "Why don't you come? Ash'll be there of course as well as Wesley. The thing is Herc, being a slayer makes you have a short life, and I want Faith to have a good one. And if you come, it will be all the better."
Hercules smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way." Then something hit him, "but I don't have anything to give her."
Xander looked around Hercules' house. "You don't have anything to give her?"
He grinned, "I don't have anything to give her from my house. Sorry, Xander." Then he got an idea, "I can get her something from the set."
The boy said, "That could work. But we better hurry. I don't want her to worry about me if I'm late."
He said simply, "Don't worry. We'll be fine. Eric's working tonight. So, he won't be any problem."
Xander got off the stool as Hercules headed for the door. "The studio is only ten minutes away. We'll be there in no time."
"Excellent."
"Can we go home, Wes? It's my birthday!"
Her watcher smiled, "Not yet, Faith. Just finish up this exercise and we can go." (Ash needs the time to set up the place, after all.)
She sighed, "Alright. What do we have to do?"
Wesley turned to his closet and opened it. He pulled out two staffs. Four feet in length made of bamboo. He tossed one to her. "These weapons are staffs. They're very strong weapons and are proven to be quite beneficial against the vampires as well as other demons." He tossed one to her. "I'm going to teach you some basic steps."
Giving in, she said, "What do you want me to learn?"
He got into a position, "This is the proper way to hold the staff."
Faith copied, "Right. Like this?"
She stood in the position to the best of her ability.
He grinned, "Right. Now try to block some of my attacks."
With that said, he launched some simple attacks toward her side.
Faith maneuvered herself with ease, sidestepping the assault and blocking it with her weapon. "Piece of cake."
Wesley recoiled and swung his body to his left aiming for her other side.
She saw this, tossed the staff from her right hand to her left behind her back and blocked it as well.
He then grabbed the other side of the weapon and did a series of attacks at his slayer. Trying never to be organized, but rather to be spontaneous. Much like her uncle suggested. Yet, he still used his organizational methods. Thus never using anything to be predictable.
A few hits got past her and ended up hitting her body, elbow, arm, and neck. But she also blocked some attacks and was learning at a good speed.
She was tired of the training. All she wanted to do was party. So, with a smile, she said, "Hey, Wes?"
Without loosing his concentration, "What is it, Faith?"
With a surged of strength, she knocked his staff out of his hands, dropped hers, and pulled him by the collar. "C'mon. We're leaving."
She yanked him out of his apartment, with him yelling, "I have to lock the door!"
As soon as it came to a halt, the two friends exited and headed for the gate.
"Hi, Eric."
Eric Matthews smiled at the two people, "Hi, Mr. Sorbo." He then spotted his friend, "Hi, Xander. What can I do for you tonight?"
Hercules smiled, "Xander and I have an engagement later tonight, and we wanted to pick something up."
The guard grinned, "No problem, Mr. Sorbo. I'll open the gate for you."
Xander said, "Thanks, Eric."
With that said, Eric opened the gate allowing Xander and Hercules entrance.
Kevin flipped on the light switch as he opened the door to the storage room. With a grin, he said, "Welcome to my personal collection from the show. To make sure things don't fall into the wrong hands, I like to keep things with me."
"Cool," was his statement as he looked around the room. "What do we get for her?"
The demigod shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. Let's look, but be careful what you find. Some of these things are the real things from ancient Greece."
He nodded slowly, "So that means some of these things are as old as you?"
"Older. So, just be careful. Alright?"
The boy smiled, "I'm always careful."
The actor glared at him, "Sure you are."
Xander showed an innocent look, "I am."
"Uh huh."
He shook his head, "I really am."
"Xander…"
The teenager sighed, "Alright, alright. I'll try to be."
The demigod grinned, "Good."
The two of them started looking through the room. Boxers were everywhere.
Xander looked at the wall and noticed a sword. He picked it up carefully, "What about this, Herc?"
Hercules looked at what his young friend was holding. His eyes widened, "Put that down, Xander."
He showed a confused look, "Why? It's just a sword. A nice sword no less." Then he unsheathed it.
The actor sighed, "That's the Sword of Veracity."
A confusing look was made, "Sword of Veracity? Never saw the episode."
He answered, "It makes you tell the truth."
Xander laughed, "Yeah, right?"
Hercules said with a chuckle, "Tell, me, Xander. Was Cordelia your first kiss?"
Without thinking, he said, "No. Willow first kissed me when we were four. Jesse's big sister was babysitting us, and Willow wanted revenge for having her kiss a frog. So, she backed me into a corner, and kissed me."
Realizing what he said, Xander immediately sheathed the sword again and hung it back up.
"You made Willow kiss a frog?"
Xander laughed nervously as he turned back around, "We were four. What was I supposed to? Jesse and I wanted to get at Willow, so we tricked her into kissing a frog. Willow retaliated after talking to Jesse's sister, and kissed me. To make sure that I didn't do it again, they made me dress up like a girl and called me Lexa. Kids can be so cruel. Which led us to date each other until I stole her Barbie."
The big guy chuckled, "That they can. Next time, you better listen to me, Xander."
He nodded, "So not a problem."
"Good. Now help me find something."
The next ten minutes were spent searching the boxes. Nothing could be found.
"We don't have that much more time, Herc."
Hercules looked at the clock and said, "We still got some time, Xander."
"Wanna make a bet?"
Ash put the last plate on the counter as he walked into the living room.
A smile appeared on his face when he looked at what he had done, "Not bad. Not bad at all."
Balloons hung from the ceiling give the correct atmosphere needed for the night.
A small group of people were coming tonight. All it was him, Wesley, Xander, and Kevin. And of course, Faith.
Xander called him from the car telling them that he and Kevin were on their way. Faith'll be surprised alright, he mused. She needed this.
Growing up as a slayer could never work out in the end. Ash was against it as soon as he found about her calling. He didn't want to see his niece die young. Nobody should want to see their child, niece, nephew, and so on die before them. It's just not how the world works. It's not right.
But to make sure that never happened, she was training by three people that love her. To Ash, it was family love. A love that goes without question. But to him and his niece, that love was stronger, and powerful.
To Xander, she was his best friend. Faith didn't have many friends at the moment, and Xander helped tremendously in that department. They were like brother and sister. Xander was also a person who knew about the supernatural and was able to believe anything from that area. No wonder he believed that deadites existed. With a lopsided grin he thought, (Nice kid. Finally someone other than Faith believes me.)
And Wesley? The two didn't get along. They were like oil and water. But things have slowed down. Faith's watcher proved himself to be a great asset to her-her fighting skills improved dramatically. Wesley would properly never admit it, but Ash was sure that the Wesley did love his niece.
Ash looked at the clock, they should be here soon. But where were Kevin and Xander? They should've been here by now, right?
The thing was, he didn't want Faith to come to the cabin and not see Xander and Kevin Sorbo here. That would definitely hurt her in a way that was never good.
He immediately went to his cell phone and dialed Xander, "Pick up, pick up."
A few rings occurred.
No answer.
"C'mon, c'mon, Kid. Pick up."
He started to get worried. "Where are you?" The former promised one asked himself. "This is so not what I needed."
All of a sudden, the door knocked.
With a sigh, he went to the door and opened it to see his niece and her watcher.
"Ah, crap." Ash said to himself.
She sighed, "I really don't want to answer that. My life right now is in real turmoil, and it hurts to talk about it."
Gunn nodded, "I get that, Buffy. Believe me, I do. Why don't you come with us to my crib?"
She looked back at her watch and realized that it was still pretty early. "Cool. But I can't stay long. Work tomorrow."
James said with surprise, "You work?"
Buffy crunched her face, "Yeah, I work. Anything wrong with that?"
Gunn shook his head, "Not at all. Pays the bills."
A smile was made, "I definitely need the money too."
George grinned, "C'mon. Let's go."
And with that, the vampire hunters headed back to Gunn's crib.
"So how are things with Faith?"
Xander said, "Going good. Faith's slayer abilities are coming closer together."
He got the idea, "Which means Buffy is feeling better."
Xander slumped onto the stool and turned to Hercules, "Exactly. So, how's the show going?"
Kevin Sorbo stated, "We're planning ideas for the next season. Wait till you see it. Things don't look good for Iolaus."
He asked, "Why? What happened to him?"
The demigod shrugged, "He dies."
This time the boy sighed, "Again? He dies more times then Buffy."
Hercules chuckled, "Yeah, that seems right. Iolaus hasn't had the best luck when it comes to dying."
Xander smiled, "I just discovered something that we have in common."
"Which is?"
The teenager said, "We both bring our friends back from the dead."
He nodded, "That we do. That we do. So, what do you want to do tonight?"
Xander shrugged looked at his watch, and then said, "I got to go."
The actor showed a confused look, "Why?"
Her grinned, "Faith's birthday. She'll be 17."
Hercules smiled, "17's a great age. I remember when I was that age."
Xander grinned getting an idea, "How long ago was that?"
The demigod chuckled, "Let's just say it was a long time ago. A very long time ago."
He sighed, "Oh, ok." Getting another idea, he said, "Why don't you come? Ash'll be there of course as well as Wesley. The thing is Herc, being a slayer makes you have a short life, and I want Faith to have a good one. And if you come, it will be all the better."
Hercules smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way." Then something hit him, "but I don't have anything to give her."
Xander looked around Hercules' house. "You don't have anything to give her?"
He grinned, "I don't have anything to give her from my house. Sorry, Xander." Then he got an idea, "I can get her something from the set."
The boy said, "That could work. But we better hurry. I don't want her to worry about me if I'm late."
He said simply, "Don't worry. We'll be fine. Eric's working tonight. So, he won't be any problem."
Xander got off the stool as Hercules headed for the door. "The studio is only ten minutes away. We'll be there in no time."
"Excellent."
"Can we go home, Wes? It's my birthday!"
Her watcher smiled, "Not yet, Faith. Just finish up this exercise and we can go." (Ash needs the time to set up the place, after all.)
She sighed, "Alright. What do we have to do?"
Wesley turned to his closet and opened it. He pulled out two staffs. Four feet in length made of bamboo. He tossed one to her. "These weapons are staffs. They're very strong weapons and are proven to be quite beneficial against the vampires as well as other demons." He tossed one to her. "I'm going to teach you some basic steps."
Giving in, she said, "What do you want me to learn?"
He got into a position, "This is the proper way to hold the staff."
Faith copied, "Right. Like this?"
She stood in the position to the best of her ability.
He grinned, "Right. Now try to block some of my attacks."
With that said, he launched some simple attacks toward her side.
Faith maneuvered herself with ease, sidestepping the assault and blocking it with her weapon. "Piece of cake."
Wesley recoiled and swung his body to his left aiming for her other side.
She saw this, tossed the staff from her right hand to her left behind her back and blocked it as well.
He then grabbed the other side of the weapon and did a series of attacks at his slayer. Trying never to be organized, but rather to be spontaneous. Much like her uncle suggested. Yet, he still used his organizational methods. Thus never using anything to be predictable.
A few hits got past her and ended up hitting her body, elbow, arm, and neck. But she also blocked some attacks and was learning at a good speed.
She was tired of the training. All she wanted to do was party. So, with a smile, she said, "Hey, Wes?"
Without loosing his concentration, "What is it, Faith?"
With a surged of strength, she knocked his staff out of his hands, dropped hers, and pulled him by the collar. "C'mon. We're leaving."
She yanked him out of his apartment, with him yelling, "I have to lock the door!"
As soon as it came to a halt, the two friends exited and headed for the gate.
"Hi, Eric."
Eric Matthews smiled at the two people, "Hi, Mr. Sorbo." He then spotted his friend, "Hi, Xander. What can I do for you tonight?"
Hercules smiled, "Xander and I have an engagement later tonight, and we wanted to pick something up."
The guard grinned, "No problem, Mr. Sorbo. I'll open the gate for you."
Xander said, "Thanks, Eric."
With that said, Eric opened the gate allowing Xander and Hercules entrance.
Kevin flipped on the light switch as he opened the door to the storage room. With a grin, he said, "Welcome to my personal collection from the show. To make sure things don't fall into the wrong hands, I like to keep things with me."
"Cool," was his statement as he looked around the room. "What do we get for her?"
The demigod shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. Let's look, but be careful what you find. Some of these things are the real things from ancient Greece."
He nodded slowly, "So that means some of these things are as old as you?"
"Older. So, just be careful. Alright?"
The boy smiled, "I'm always careful."
The actor glared at him, "Sure you are."
Xander showed an innocent look, "I am."
"Uh huh."
He shook his head, "I really am."
"Xander…"
The teenager sighed, "Alright, alright. I'll try to be."
The demigod grinned, "Good."
The two of them started looking through the room. Boxers were everywhere.
Xander looked at the wall and noticed a sword. He picked it up carefully, "What about this, Herc?"
Hercules looked at what his young friend was holding. His eyes widened, "Put that down, Xander."
He showed a confused look, "Why? It's just a sword. A nice sword no less." Then he unsheathed it.
The actor sighed, "That's the Sword of Veracity."
A confusing look was made, "Sword of Veracity? Never saw the episode."
He answered, "It makes you tell the truth."
Xander laughed, "Yeah, right?"
Hercules said with a chuckle, "Tell, me, Xander. Was Cordelia your first kiss?"
Without thinking, he said, "No. Willow first kissed me when we were four. Jesse's big sister was babysitting us, and Willow wanted revenge for having her kiss a frog. So, she backed me into a corner, and kissed me."
Realizing what he said, Xander immediately sheathed the sword again and hung it back up.
"You made Willow kiss a frog?"
Xander laughed nervously as he turned back around, "We were four. What was I supposed to? Jesse and I wanted to get at Willow, so we tricked her into kissing a frog. Willow retaliated after talking to Jesse's sister, and kissed me. To make sure that I didn't do it again, they made me dress up like a girl and called me Lexa. Kids can be so cruel. Which led us to date each other until I stole her Barbie."
The big guy chuckled, "That they can. Next time, you better listen to me, Xander."
He nodded, "So not a problem."
"Good. Now help me find something."
The next ten minutes were spent searching the boxes. Nothing could be found.
"We don't have that much more time, Herc."
Hercules looked at the clock and said, "We still got some time, Xander."
"Wanna make a bet?"
Ash put the last plate on the counter as he walked into the living room.
A smile appeared on his face when he looked at what he had done, "Not bad. Not bad at all."
Balloons hung from the ceiling give the correct atmosphere needed for the night.
A small group of people were coming tonight. All it was him, Wesley, Xander, and Kevin. And of course, Faith.
Xander called him from the car telling them that he and Kevin were on their way. Faith'll be surprised alright, he mused. She needed this.
Growing up as a slayer could never work out in the end. Ash was against it as soon as he found about her calling. He didn't want to see his niece die young. Nobody should want to see their child, niece, nephew, and so on die before them. It's just not how the world works. It's not right.
But to make sure that never happened, she was training by three people that love her. To Ash, it was family love. A love that goes without question. But to him and his niece, that love was stronger, and powerful.
To Xander, she was his best friend. Faith didn't have many friends at the moment, and Xander helped tremendously in that department. They were like brother and sister. Xander was also a person who knew about the supernatural and was able to believe anything from that area. No wonder he believed that deadites existed. With a lopsided grin he thought, (Nice kid. Finally someone other than Faith believes me.)
And Wesley? The two didn't get along. They were like oil and water. But things have slowed down. Faith's watcher proved himself to be a great asset to her-her fighting skills improved dramatically. Wesley would properly never admit it, but Ash was sure that the Wesley did love his niece.
Ash looked at the clock, they should be here soon. But where were Kevin and Xander? They should've been here by now, right?
The thing was, he didn't want Faith to come to the cabin and not see Xander and Kevin Sorbo here. That would definitely hurt her in a way that was never good.
He immediately went to his cell phone and dialed Xander, "Pick up, pick up."
A few rings occurred.
No answer.
"C'mon, c'mon, Kid. Pick up."
He started to get worried. "Where are you?" The former promised one asked himself. "This is so not what I needed."
All of a sudden, the door knocked.
With a sigh, he went to the door and opened it to see his niece and her watcher.
"Ah, crap." Ash said to himself.
The door to a warehouse barged open as six humans walked down the stairs and into the main room.
"Welcome to my crib." Gunn said as he put down his weaponry.
He turned around and noticed the other members of his team and his sister, "Guys, this is Buffy. Buffy, meet my crew."
Buffy's eyes widened. There were so many people in this warehouse. All human from what her senses took in. "You mean you all fight vampires?"
Rondell nodded, "Yeah, we do. From what Gunn says, we all got to die at some point in our lives, it might as well be worth a good fight."
"Yeah, we do. My brother here fights with everything he has. By the way, my name is Alonna."
Wow, Buffy thought. So many people. So many lives who go against everything the blond tried to do alone through the last few years. Alex was right, she needed to be a team player, she needed to train her friends, and this only reinforced her earlier promises.
"Where did you find this Buffy character?"
The question cut off Buffy from her thought pattern, looked at the source of the voice, "I was in the graveyard."
The same person asked, "Graveyard? You looking for a girlfriend in the graveyard?"
Gunn chuckled, "Chains, man. She's the vampire slayer."
Ray showed a confused look, "Vampire slayer?"
Buffy sighed, "Here's what I can tell you…"
Hercules showed a confusing look, "What are you getting at?"
Xander said, "Look at your watch, Herc. What time does it say?"
For the first time in a while, he looked at his watch, "Uh oh."
He nodded, "Yeah, uh oh. We should've been there ten minutes ago."
The demigod looked around frantically, "I still don't know what to get her."
"Any weapon that can help a slayer? Do you have anything made by Hephaestus?"
Sighing, he said, "Nothing that can be grabbed easily." Then he continued looking for an object. Then he saw something, "I found something."
Xander smiled, "What is it?"
The actor walked over to the far wall and grabbed a weapon. He showed it to Xander, "This was Xena's. And I don't think she'll mind a slayer using it."
His eyes widened, "You're giving her that? What's going to happen in the show now that that's gone?"
The actor smiled, "The actress playing Xena uses a fake one. If she used the real one, she'd hurt herself easily. With Faith's healing powers, she should easily handle it."
Xander smiled, "Cool. C'mon, let's get going."
With that, the two left the studio.
The boy took his cell phone and dialed a familiar number.
One ring later, it was picked up. Xander said into the phone, "Hi, Ash."
Faith asked, "What's wrong, Uncle Ash?"
What did he want to tell her? Tell her that Xander wasn't here yet, which was true. Tell her that Xander was picking up Kevin Sorbo for her to meet? No, that would definitely put a cramp on things. Especially when Xander wanted to it to a surprise.
He hoped the kid was alright, though. Ash knew that Xander was a fighter, and if he needed help, he'd find a way. It was always possible that his cell phone was turned off. Maybe he couldn't use his cell phone in a studio.
With a sigh, he thought that had to be it. Xander was alright. He had to be. Right? He just had to be. One thing Ash would love to know if Xander was alright. But how is that possible?
All of a sudden, his cell phone rang, and he picked it up. "Hi, Ash."
With another sigh, he thought, (Thank god.) "Hi. Oh, ok. We'll see you in a few minutes. I'll tell Faith you're on your way. Yeah, I'll also tell her that. Later." He then hung up his phone.
"That was Xander. He'll be here shortly. With a friend."
Faith's mind shut down. Friend? What kinda friend? He's bringing a date to my birthday party? Where the fuck does he get the right to bring a date to my party?
Ash noticed the look on her face, "Faith, I assure you it's not like that."
She showed a perplexed look, "Like what?"
He smiled, "You like him, don'tca?"
She shook her head immediately, "Of course not. I could never like him. He B's territory anyway."
"Faith…"
Wesley coughed, "May I suggest that we sit down in the living room. It's rather chilly out on the porch here."
"Right. C'mon in."
With that said, the three of them entered the cabin and sat down. After locking the door of course.
Ash and his niece sat down on the couch while Wesley was in the chair next to them.
Faith's uncle looked at her, "I see the way you two interact. You like him. Xander's the type of guy who cares about all his friends, and he's the first guy you knew who knows about you're calling and isn't scared away by it. But like you said, Faith. Xander is obviously in love with this Buffy girl. His whole reason for being in LA is too find her."
She nodded slowly, "I know. I know, Uncle Ash. I just know I can make him happy."
He nodded, "Yeah, you can make him happy for a short time, Faith. But right now, he's only got Buffy on his mind. You'll find someone eventually. Right now, just enjoy the fact that you got a friend like Xander…a friend. And having friends in this world is extremely important."
Wesley nodded, "You're uncle is right, Faith. Granted, I'm not one for the teenage drama, but you'll find someone."
"You two leaving?"
Hercules looked back at Xander, and then at the guard, "Yeah, we are, Eric."
The Philadelphia native leaned back in his chair and noticed the clock on the back wall. "Well, you two have fun. I get off in five minutes. I'll probably watch tv tonight. Kid Gets Acquainted with the Universe is on tonight." He then chuckled a little.
Xander showed a confused look, "What's so funny?"
"I just realized. This actor, Rory, reminds me a lot of my kid brother, Cory."
"Weird." Was the brunette's statement.
Hercules looked at the guard, "Well, you know I hear that show is actually casting a character. The character is Rory long lost older brother. If you want, I can make a call."
Eric's perked up, "Thanks, Mr. Sorbo."
He laughed a little, "Call me, Kevin, Eric." After thinking for a second, the demigod asked, "Xander and I are going to a birthday party. Why don't you come along? I think it would be a lot better than sitting at home."
Eric grinned, "Thanks, Kevin. But I wouldn't want to intrude."
Xander smiled, "It'll be alright, Eric. Faith needs to make new friends anyway. Don't worry about a gift. " He got out of his chair, "Shouldn't I wait for Kirk? He should be here in a few minutes."
"Somebody mention me?"
The three of them turned around and spotted the new visitor.
"Um, Kirk?"
Kirk nodded, "Yeah, Eric?"
"We need to switch. I have somewhere to go tonight."
He agreed, "Sure. Clock out, and you can leave."
With that said, Eric clocked out, and walked out of the booth.
"We'll drop you off at your apartment after." Hercules said as the three headed for the car.
Eric looked at what Hercules was holding, "Doesn't that belong to the show?"
The actor smiled, "I was looking after it for a friend. I don't think she'll mind if I let somebody else use it."
He showed a confused look, "You sure?"
Herc smirked, "She won't mind. She got a better one later on."
The want-to-turn-actor smiled, "Cool."
Then the three were off.
"Where are they?"
Ash smiled, "They'll be here soon, Faith. I wouldn't worry about it."
She sighed, "I know. I just want to get my groove on. And I don't want to start this party until X and his friend are here."
Wesley smiled, "I'm quite sure you'll get your groove on soon enough, Faith. Tonight you turn 17." Internally he sighed, (One more year until the Cruciamentum. I certainly hope you'll survive it.) He thought bitterly to himself. (With us training you, Faith. I have high hopes that you will not fail.)
She grinned, "Yeah, the big one seven."
All of a sudden, the door was knocked.
Ash asked, "Ready?"
She nodded, "You better believe I'm fucking ready!"
The former promised one said, "Well, let me be the first one to say to you, Faith, happy birthday."
He then opened the door to reveal three men.
Hercules walked in, "Happy birthday, Faith."
Her eyes widened, "You're, you're, you're Kevin Sorbo!"
The demigod chuckled, "That's what they call me. Xander here invited me, and how can I turn down someone's 17-year-old birthday?"
She grinned, "I can't believe you did this, X?"
He grinned, "I wanted you to have a good birthday. So, I invited him and Eric."
The Slayer showed a confused look, "Eric?"
Eric nodded as he came out from behind Kevin. "Hi, Faith. My name's Eric Matthews. Happy birthday."
She stared at him. "Uh…uh…uh."
"You're name is, Faith, right?"
Faith tried to speak, but couldn't.
Ash whispered to Wesley, "Looks like Faith moved on from the kid."
Her watcher said, "It appears that way."
Xander jabbed Faith in her stomach knocking her into motion, "Hi, Faith is me. I mean, my name is Faith."
"How about we go inside?" Hercules asked.
Ash said, "Sure. C'mon in."
The six people walked into the cabin as Eric closed the door behind him.
The young man watched the scene in front of him. He could obviously tell that this was a group of people that had a nice family vibe growing.
He didn't have the slightest idea who was who though. All he knew was well…no one really. Kevin Sorbo was a nice guy. A guy who was able to get him a job at the studio and a guy that was going to give him an opportunity to try out for a show.
Eric smiled as the idea processed through his brain. A serene smile crossed his lips.
"Hey, Eric?"
He answered, "Yeah, Kevin?"
The demigod smiled and said to his young friend, "Come on over. Meet Faith, Ash, and Wesley."
The Philadelphia native walked over to the group of people. "Sit over there, next to Ash."
"Sure." He said as he sat down. "Nice to meet you."
The former promised one asked, "How ya doin, Kid?
He shrugged, "Good I think." The teenager glanced at the young woman, "how does it feel to be 17?"
Faith just stared at him. (What the fuck is wrong with you, Girlfriend?)
(Nothing's wrong.)
(Sure, nothing is wrong. Sure, Nothing! He's a damn hottie!)
(No he isn't.)
(Yes, he is. His ass looks smoking.)
(Stop it!)
"Faith…" Eric Matthews said to the girl who looked like she was lost in thought. He glanced at Xander, "I think I broke her."
Xander smiled, "I hope not. Hold on a second." He immediately stood out of his seat, grabbed Faith's hand, and walked out of the room.
Eric looked at the other people, "What did I do?"
Ash smirked, "If you only knew."
He showed a confused look, "Knew what?"
Hercules grinned, "She likes you."
He chucked, "Me? Nah! I'm just a guy from Philadelphia who graduated high school. I'm a nobody."
The son of Zeus said, "Well, Mr. Nobody. I think Faith thinks you're cute."
"Well, girls have always found me to be cute. But that's all. I didn't move my hands through my hair did I?"
Wesley said, "I don't think so. May I ask why?"
"It's just something I found that makes a girl interested in you."
"Uh huh." Ash said with a slight grin, "Kid, Faith is a girl that…well, that you have to be careful with. You don't want to make her mad."
He chuckled, "What's she going to do, make me her man servant? No thank you. Went through that already."
Xander placed Faith on her bed and sat her down. He sat down next to her and said, "Faith?"
No answer.
"Earth to Faith? Anyway in there?"
No answer.
Xander chuckled, "I thought Harmony was the only airhead."
The word, 'airhead' snapped her out her inner musings. She immediately pinned her friend on her bed. "I ain't no fucking airhead, X!"
He smiled, "I knew my charms had to work on you eventually."
She showed a confused look. Then it hit her. "Get over yourself, Xander. What would B say if she heard you say that?"
The boy shrugged, "Buffy's not here, Faith. If she was, she knew I'd be kidding."
The Slayer rolled her eyes, "Sure."
He grunted, "Can you get off of me?"
"Sorry." Then she sprang off of him.
Sitting up himself, he said, "You like him, don't you?"
"What?" Faith shook her head, "God no!"
Xander nodded slowly, "Right." He then changed his voice, "Hi, Faith is me. I mean, my name is Faith."
She glared at him, "I do not sound like that!"
He nodded, "Yeah, you're right. For me to sound like you, you'd have to hit me in the balls. And I don't think you're the type to do that."
Continue to glare, she said, "Tell that to the guy who made a pass at me a couple years ago. Last I heard, he was learning how to speak through his ass."
Xander sighed, "Somehow, I believe it." Turning his voice to normal and serious, he said, "seriously, Faith. Just between me, you, and this room. You like Eric, am I right?"
Faith said slowly, "Just between us?" Her friend nodded, "Yeah, I do. What do I do, X?"
He sighed, "I'm not the type to give you boyfriend advice. From what I've learned about slayers. Whether it be Buffy, Kendra, or you, you got to be careful when deciding on who you like."
She showed a confused look, "What you talkin' about, X?"
Xander chuckled, "Listen, Coleman. From what I've seen. The person that a slayer wants to hook up with has to be ready to deal with the whole slayer package. That means the human half and the slayer half. With Buffy, I understand the person. I understand Buffy Summers. She's a girl who just sent her boyfriend to hell. A girl that needs comfort, a girl that needs a stable male influence in her life.
She needs someone who can help her through her life. Someone who can give her the love, friendship, respect, and loyalty that a human needs.
Angel could never get that. Yes, he loved her. But can he give her a life? Can he be someone who give her children? No. I can, and I have had experiences in my life…dark ones. Whether it be from Ampatta, my parents, or Ms. French.
She always found a way to get through the problems in her life, Faith. She's my hero, and I love her for that. I just hope she sees that someday."
Faith just looked at him and saw the love he had in his eyes for this slayer. It was obvious that he loved her for who and what she really was. "That's deep, Xander."
He smiled, "Yeah, I guess it is. It's how I feel about her, Faith. You just met Eric. He seems like a nice guy and all, but like I said, be careful with who you want to go out with. If it was me, I wouldn't do anything to create a relationship with him right now. Hell, if I was a female slayer, I'd be exploring myself right now. Actually, I'd freak, scream like a girl, get confused, and then do the exploring."
The Slayer laughed, "You're an ass. You realize that, right?"
Xander smiled, "Yeah, I do have so ass-like qualities. People tell me I have a great ass."
Faith laughed again, "Stop it, X!" After her breathing slowed down, she said, "Seriously, what do I do about, Eric? I have a hard time talking to him."
He answered, "I always was told to imagine people in their underwear when you have stage fright."
(Underwear,) she thought, (nice underwear that wraps around Eric's ass.)
"Faith…"
The female was brought back to reality, "Damn it, X! That won't work. What do I do?"
He replied, "All I can say is to think about what you have to say to him. I'm sure eventually you'll be able to get through your problem."
"So the answer to my problem to is to think about it? That's hardly an answer."
Xander shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you. I had the same problem when I first spoke to Buffy. After that, I was able to talk to her fine. So, maybe it was just the initial shock to meeting her."
Faith gave it some thought, "You're probably right. So, I should be able to talk to him?"
He nodded, "Yeah. But what are you going to do? Are you going to slow things down and get to know Eric before asking him out?"
She replied, "That's what I'm going to do. Thanks, Xander,"
The boy grinned, "That's what I'm here for. C'mon, F. Let's go and get you your presents."
Faith smiled, "It's about damn time. I want to see what you got me."
He grinned, "I hope you like it. C'mon."
With that said, the two headed out of her bedroom with her saying to him, "B's lucky to have you."
Xander smiled, "And I'm lucky to know a girl like Buffy."
"Everything alright, Faith?"
She nodded as she and Xander walked in, "Sure is, Uncle Ash. X helped me."
Her watcher said, "That's wonderful. Now, I believe it's time for what you're waiting for…the presents if I'm not mistaken."
Faith smiled, "You know it, Wes. So what you get me?"
The color in Eric's face just dropped, "Uh…Faith?"
She looked up at him. (Get it together girl.) After taking a breath, she asked, "Yeah?"
"I didn't get you anything." That was hard for him to say. But he hoped she wouldn't mind.
The Slayer grinned, "S'alright, Eir. Just glad you could make it."
He smiled, "That's cool." (Man, that was pure luck.)
Xander whispered to her, "See, I told you, you can do it."
She grinned, "Thanks to you, X. Thanks to you."
"Right." Hercules said bringing everything back on course. "Who wants to go first?"
Ash, Xander, Wesley, and Hercules looked at each other waiting for someone to say something.
Wesley smiled, "I'll go first." He then went over to the coffee table and picked his gift up. He gave it to her, "Here you go, Faith. Happy birthday."
She grinned, "Thanks, Wes." With that said, she quickly read the card, followed by the red wrapping paper. Uncovered, it was sure enough…a book. She looked at the cover, "Vampyr." Faith read to herself.
Eric smiled, "You like horror stuff?"
Faith smiled, "Yeah, it's what my life is all about."
He smiled, "I love horror movies. I like that one with that hotty, hot hot from Party Of Five."
Xander asked, "Neve Campbell?"
Eric said, "Duh."
Faith smiled, "I figured you for a Jennifer Love Hewitt fan."
He shrugged, "She's alright. But she whines way too much."
Bringing the conversation back on track, Wesley asked, "What do you think of it?"
Faith replied honestly, "I love it, Wes."
He grinned, "Well, knowing your thirst in the horror genre, I thought you'd be quite interested in it."
The Slayer nodded, "I do."
Ash lowered his gauntlet-handed hand down the side of the couch and pulled a gift that was placed in a black paper bag. A red ribbon tied the two handles together. There was a card that hung from the right handle. "Happy birthday, Faith."
A smile crossed her lips as ripped off the card. With eagerness, she read it. Following this, she untied the ribbon and opened the bag. She pulled out a black leather jacket.
"Look inside the jacket." He said with a lopsided grin.
Faith did and to her amazement, there were a ton of pockets. It didn't have the typical one pocket on the inner chest. This jacket had four. Two on each side.
Ash said, "Those pockets should come in handy. Y'know, to carry back-up things hidden inside. "
She sprung to her feet and kissed her uncle on the cheek, "Thanks, Uncle Ash. I love it." The Slayer immediately put the jacket on. "It's a little big."
He shrugged, "Yeah, it is. But look at this way, it gives you more jacket to cover the things you want to hold inside."
Xander whispered to the former promised one, "Nice save."
His friend whispered back, "You better believe it, Kid."
Faith continued smiling, (Damn! Now super hearing? I'll just let that slide, X. Just this once.)
Breaking from her inner monologue, she asked, "What's next?"
Xander smiled, "Here you go, Faith."
She grabbed his gift, read the card, and unwrapped the green wrapping paper. When the gift was revealed, her mouth hung open. Low and behold was Metallica's Master of Puppets, which was a CD from 1990. "Damn, X! How did you find this?"
The boy grinned, "Well, I remember you telling me that this was the first album that you ever heard from Metallica. But you lost it in Boston after you were robbed. So, I know this store that had these old albums. When I saw it, I knew you had to get it for you."
Faith wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, "Thanks, Xander. Thanks a lot."
"Woah" Eric said. "Have to say that's a kick ass album."
Faith let go of her best friend and smiled at her new one, "Yeah, it is a good album."
The boy from Sunnydale said, "I knew you'd like it."
Hercules coughed to bring the attention back to him. "Now that Wesley, Ash, and Xander have given you their presents. Here's one from me." He then gave her a plane white box. "Sorry it isn't wrapped."
The brunette female said with a smile, "No big." She took the box from him and placed it on her lap.
Easily taking the lid off the box, her eyes widened. Inside was something that she never thought that she'd ever get. Faith very carefully lifted the weapon and said in awe, "Is this the one that Alex Young uses as Xena?"
He nodded, "Yeah. What she uses is the safer model. This chackram is the original. I thought you might like it."
She couldn't believe what she just got. "And you're giving it to me?"
Hercules grinned, "Yeah. Xander said you were a fan of the show and about your life. So I thought what not better to give you a weapon that could come really handy."
"Uh..huh." Faith said with uncertainty.
Xander whispered into her ear, "Faith. The chackram here's the real deal. Kevin knows the truth."
She gulped. (This chackram is fucking real!)
Faith shook her head, "I couldn't. I couldn't take this, Kevin."
He grinned, "No, it's okay. Alex won't miss it. Anyway, Alex'll be getting a new chackram as the show wraps."
The Slayer looked down at the weapon, "Wow. So this is fucking mine?"
The demigod nodded, "Yeah, it is, Faith. Enjoy."
Xander sighed as he walked down the sidewalk.
His friend looked at him, "What's wrong, Kid?"
He sighed again, "It's been three weeks, Ash. Three weeks since I've been in LA and no Buffy."
The former promised one said, "Look it at this way. Because of you, Faith is becoming a much better slayer. Never mind slayer, she's becoming a happier person. You never knew how bad she had it in Boston."
He showed a confused look, "I know her parents died, and that your sister did too."
The elder man nodded, "Yeah, we lost some good people. She moved to LA with me when I got offered the job at S-Mart from Michigan. So we've been living there for about a year now."
"Just a year?"
"Yeah, a year. Faith was going to start her junior year of high school. But now, it looks like we're moving to Sunnydale."
The younger man looked at the ground, "The hellmouth. Dammit! I hate that. I hate vampires. I hate the lives we have to lead down there. I hate having to watch the woman that I love fight every night of her life. I hate that one night she might not come home to her mother, to her friends."
This time, the former promised one sighed, "Kid, you make the most of it. You have heart. You'll find Buffy, bring her home along with Wes, Faith, and me. You just made your home team stronger.'
He said in a low voice, "I know, Ash. It's just like I'm at a standstill. I don't know where to find her, Ash. I don't know how to stop this ghost. I don't know where to start the ghost searching."
At that moment, Ash looked up in to the sky, and yelled, "Watch out, Kid!"
Without a second thought, Ash leaped at full speed and pushed Xander out of the way.
The two friends landed in a heap as they heard a large bang coming from a few feet away from them.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked as he got to his feet. He offered Xander his hand.
He nodded, "Thanks to you, Ash."
The two friends looked at what fell and their eyes widened. There on the ground was…
"You got to be kidding me? First was a flower pot, a telephone post, trashcans, a television set, a playstation, a trashbag, and now a stereo!"
Ash looked at the younger man, "You mean to tell me all those things fell on you?"
He sighed, "Yeah, I guess I'm cursed, huh?"
Then it him, "Correct me if I'm wrong, Xander. But you have to stop a ghost before you find Buffy, right?"
Xander nodded, "Right."
Ash said, "Well, wouldn't you classify objects falling from the sky as something of the supernatural?"
The boy chuckled, "And to think I was having a Chicken Little complex."
"So, now that we figured that the falling objects are from the ghost. Why would the ghost want to do that? Are you the only one the ghost is targeting? And what does this have to with Buffy?"
Xander answered honestly, "I don't know."
The former promised one said, "As much as I hate to say this, Kid. I might as well as go back to Lorne. He might know something."
The teenager nodded, "That could work, Ash. But, Lorne already gave us the information that we need. Maybe Wesley and Faith found something."
The elder man nodded, "You could be right. They're back at the cabin. C'mon."
With that said, the two brunettes headed back to the cabin.
THWAK!
"Nice throw, Faith. This chackram has proven to be very powerful, and your handling it much better. You have been using it for a week now. But, I feel I must remind you, don't throw this weapon in the house or you're bound to ruin the wall." Her watcher said. "Take a look at what you did over by the door."
Faith said, "Sorry, Wes. Just trying to get better."
Wesley nodded, "And practice makes perfect. But right now you need to put down that weapon, and help me research Xander's phantasmal matter."
She nodded, "Right." Faith walked up to the door and yanked the weapon out of the wall. "This chackram's fucking incredible by the way."
"That it is, Faith. Now, I've only heard from one of my sources. Unfortunately, the J'koptoth demon wasn't as resourceful, as I had hoped. Which just leaves the two others."
The Slayer showed a confused look, "Two others, I thought you told me that you were asking four?"
He nodded, "I was. But the other one is known as a Whedenox demon."
"Whedenox demon?"
Her watcher replied, "Yes, Whedenox demon. Highly intelligent demon that is easily misguided by the whole demon demographic. Basically, they are the lemming species of the demonic population. They have become highly undependable for valuable information."
The brunette said, "Well, Wes. That means we're zero for two. Have any idea when you'll get any more information?"
"Hopefully I'll hear from someone within the next hour or two."
Faith sighed as she slumped into the couch. She placed the weapon on her belt and looked at the tabletop. It was covered with books.
"These sources you have are X's last chance at finding B. You know that, right?"
Wesley sat down next to his slayer, "Faith, we will find this ghost and find a way for it to stop whatever hold it has on Buffy."
"I know. It's just that Xander and Buffy really belong together. If B knew how hard Xander has tried to search for her, if she knew how much she changed him, made him a better man. I don't know what B would really think of him. The thing is, I don't even know her, Wes. I don't even know what she looks like. I could've seen her already, and I never told Xander."
She stated into space, "What if I saw her and never told him?"
He shook his head, "Faith. You mustn't do this to yourself. Xander has been searching for Buffy as well as you, Mr. Sorbo, your uncle, and I. You yourself saw her picture in Xander's wallet. Remembering how she looked into the photograph, have you seen her in Los Angeles?"
Faith thought back to the picture and tried to see if she saw the elder slayer these past few weeks. "No, I haven't."
Wesley nodded, "You are correct. You and I haven't seen Buffy. We don't have anything to worry about. What you are feeling for Xander is concern. Xander is your best friend, and you only want to see him happy. For him to be happy at this moment, he has to find Buffy. I have no doubt in mind that he will find his friend."
Faith smiled, "I know you're right."
"Good."
She sighed, "I just wish we knew where X and my uncle were."
Wesley nodded, "They should be here rather soon. As soon as they do, the four of us have to talk and see what we can put together on this phantasmal matter."
Faith Williams stated, "Damn right, Wes. We need to nip this thing in the bud."
He lowered his glasses down the bridge of his nose, "Nip this thing in the bud?"
She shrugged, "Been spending too much fucking time with Xander. Sorry."
Her watcher said, "Quite alright."
The Slayer and the Watcher soon heard a noise coming from the front door. It soon opened, and in walked two people. "Hey, guys." Xander said to the people sitting on the couch.
Faith returned the invitation. "Hey, X. Hey, Uncle Ash."
Ash grinned, "What has my niece found out today?"
Wesley said, "You're niece was practicing with her chackram and cut a deep scratch in your wall over there."
Her uncle looked at the destined wall and noticed the scratch. "How many scratches does this add up to, Faith?"
Faith tried to look innocent, "Two."
Xander looked at her, "Try two times eight. That chackram of yours has made sixteen cuts in the walls. Two in this room, and fourteen in the training room."
"Sorry." She said while still trying to act innocent. "at least I'm getting better."
Ash said, "True, but at what cost? You're destroying the walls here. Next time, just stick to the training room. Cutting the walls in there is expected, but cutting the walls in my living room is something else."
She gave in, "Alright, alright. No chackram usage in the living room."
He ginned at his niece, "Good. Now," he said as he sat down in an open chair, "Kevin is coming over rather soon. And then we five have to deal with this. Right now, pronto, today, and all that."
Faith's eyes widened, "Kevin Sorbo is coming here?"
Xander smiled, "Yeah, he is. He's a big part of this."
Ash said, "Xander called him on the way over here."
All of a sudden, the doorbell could be heard.
Ash got out of his chair and walked over to the door. He opened it to reveal the man in question. "Hi, Kevin."
Hercules smiled, "Hello, Ash. So I assume everyone is here?"
Xander nodded, "Right. We all are. So come on in."
With that said, every sat down around the coffee table. Xander, Ash, and Faith sat on the couch. Hercules and Wesley sat in the opposite chairs from the said couch.
"What do we know about this ghost?" Hercules asked to start the conversation.
Xander replied, "Ash and I were walking down the sidewalk when a stereo fell from the sky."
Wesley asked skeptically, "A stereo fell from the sky?"
Ash nodded, "Yeah. It makes sense. The kid complained that many things kept falling from the sky. And something like that doesn't happen everyday. It has to be supernatural. Think of it this way. Nothing has fell on Xander in Sunnydale, but when he comes to LA, the objects started to falll. It has to be linked to the ghost."
Faith agreed, "Makes sense and on the source front, nothing new."
Kevin Sorbo looked at them, "Nothing?"
Wesley shook his head, "The J'koptoth demon wasn't that helpful. And the Whedenox demon is pretty much a let down."
Hercules said, "And Lorne wasn't that much help either. He didn't have any more information."
Xander sighed, "So this pretty much leads us to nothing."
Faith said, "Don't give up hope, X. Look at it this way; my slayer abilities are coming closer together. Which means B is feeling better about herself."
That made Xander grin, "That actually is true. So maybe I'm just thinking the worse. Consider it the ole Xander luck. Nothing good ever happens."
Ash smirked, "Well, yeah. With that attitude, anything bad will happen. You have to learn to look on the bright side of things. Be confident, and things will start to happen."
Xander said with uncertainty, "Uh…huh."
Faith shook her head, "No, he means that. Think positive."
(I think positive, and things are only going to get worse. I tried earlier, and my dad only hit me harder. I'm a loser…a complete and utter loser. Just watch me not hook up with Buffy. Just watch Angel come back, laugh in my face, and I'll vanish in the shadows.)
He smirked, (I'll be ignored and soon become invisible. I'll be like Marci. A person who is easily forgotten.)
His inner musings were cut off when the phone started ringing.
Ash walked over to the phone, and picked it up. "Ash Williams speaking…hold on…he's right here."
He placed his hand over the received as he looked at his friend, "Wesley, it's for you."
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce walked over to the phone and smiled, "Thanks, Ash." Noticing the nod in acknowledgement, the Englishman took the phone and placed it to his ear.
"Mr. Whydam-Pryce?"
Wesley immediately recognized the voice, "Ah, Ms. Phillips."
She grinned, "Call me, Fi."
He nodded, "Right, Fi. Thank you for getting back to me so soon. Do you have any information based on the situation I told you."
"Well, I put up a post at the site. And people have saw Buffy in Los Angeles. Apparently at the moment she's working at Helen's Diner under the name Anne Phillips. Which is really weird because people are asking me if we're related."
"I can understand. So Buffy is working at Helen's Diner? Do you know how to solve this ghost problem?"
"In my experience, I'd look into "Fantasma Indagine." It's a book that specifies exactly in the phantasmal area."
Translating the words in his mind, he rolled his eyes. "Can't believe I didn't think of that book before."
She giggled, "It happens to the best of us."
He nodded, "It certainly does. Do you know where I can get this book?"
"My mom is putting on a concert in LA, today in fact. Meet me at Tech Noir."
Wesley grinned, "That's good to know, Fi. When do you want to meet?"
The young woman replied, "We're going to be there in two hours. I'll give you the book then."
Faith's watcher said, "I'll be there. Thank you, Fi. We really appreciate it. See you later."
"Not a problem. I'll see you in a bit."
With that said, Fionna Phillips hung up the phone. Wesley did the same gesture one second later.
He turned around to his friends, "I have some wonderful news."
Ash looked up from the conversation he was having with the group. "What you find out?"
He said, "That was my source. She has a book in her possession that would help us. I have to meet her at Tech Noir in two hours."
"Tech Noir?" Xander asked. "Why does that sound familiar?"
Faith stated, "I think it has to deal with some kind of movie. Can't remember which though."
"Right." Hercules said, "Did you find anything else out?"
The Englishman nodded, "It appears that Ms. Summers is working at a place called Helen's Diner. She's going under the assumed name, Anne Phillips."
Xander immediately looked up at Wesley, "Buffy's working at Helen's Diner?"
Wesley stated, "It appears that way. What I suppose we do is Faith and I go to Tech Noir. Xander and Ash will go to Helen's Diner. Mr. Sorbo will go back to Charitas and see if Lorne knows anything about the book."
Hercules asked, "What's the title?"
"Right. The name of the book is, "Fantasma Indagine."
Ash spoke up, "As much as I hate to suggest this. Kevin should go with Xander. I'll go to Caritas."
Xander looked at his elder friend, "You sure you can handle Lorne alone?"
He took a deep breath, "I believe I can, Kid. He may be annoying at times, but he does have good information."
Faith said, "I know that tone. Don't take your chainsaw, Uncle Ash."
The former promised one sheepishly said, "I wasn't going to…"
She said sternly, "Uncle Ash."
"Alright. I won't take the chainsaw."
Wesley instructed, "That's good, Ash. Now, let's get moving. We'll leave and come back in four hours."
Xander looked at Wesley, "Sure. Let's get going."
He watched his love go work through her day at the diner.
She seemed to be getting better. No more angst appeared in her soul. It looked like she was feeling better about herself. She was going on in her life, getting paid from her job, slaying with Gunn's crew.
Buffy was definitely feeling better about herself, and moving on from Angel.
A grin appeared on his face as he realized something. She was the Buffy that he fell in love with that fateful day in Sunnydale. And yet he won't let anything come between them.
The boy was becoming a nuisance. He was getting close to her, and he kept trying to stop him. Too bad the boy was lucky enough to avoid the objects.
He had to do something. He had to keep Buffy Summers to himself.
At that moment it was decided.
Alexander Harris is going to have to die.
Ash walked into the familiar setting. It has been a while for the former promised one, but he was on a mission. This ghost situation was starting to get hectic, and it had to be dealt with.
Slowly, he approached the bar and was greeted by a voice saying in surprise, "Ashy Boy?"
Recognizing the voice, he grumbled to himself. But that rather ended quickly as soon as he remembered his reason his being here.
Taking a deep breath, he greeted, "Hey, Lorne."
Lorne looked up at the scarred man. "What can I do you for?"
Ash walked over to the bar and sat down in front of the host, "Some information. Some new information surfaced, and I need to get your input."
He nodded, "What type of information?"
The clerk asked, "Have you ever heard of the book, "Fantasma Indagine?"
The Watcher and his Slayer walked into Tech Noir.
Faith immediately recognized the atmosphere. "I knew this place looked familiar."
"How so?" asked Wesley.
She replied, "Tech Noir was a name of a club from Terminator. This club must pay homage to that. Kinda like there actually being a Pizza Planet at Disney World."
"Pizza Planet?"
Faith sighed, "You never saw Toy Story? C'mon, it's a damn classic."
"I regret to tell you that I have not seen that movie."
She nodded, "Before this summer is over, I'm going to make sure you see it."
Wesley was about to say something when he saw a young woman whom he recognized from a website he saw earlier. He walked over to her, and asked, "Ms. Phillips?"
The young brunette turned around, recognizing the voice, and asked "Mr. Whydam-Pryce?"
The Englishman nodded, "That is correct. I hope that you have the book that we need."
Her hand immediately went back to the tabletop and brought back a book. "Here it is, Mr. Whydam-Pryce. The spell you need is on page sixty-seven."
Faith grinned, "Two more to a great number."
Wesley and Fi looked at each other and back to Faith. "Right," Fi began slowly. "and you are?"
Wesley introduced her, "This young woman is my friend, Faith Williams. Faith, this is Fionna Phillips. Ms. Phillips' mother is Molly Phillips."
Her eyes widened, "You're mother is Molly Phillips? Wicked. Is she here?"
She shook her head, "No. She's at the recording studio picking up some information. But I hope that book is what you need?"
Wesley nodded, "It most definitely is. We'll return it after. How long are you in Los Angeles?"
Fi answered, "We got two concerts to put on. We'll be leaving Wednesday. Bring it back here before noon."
The Watcher nodded, "I most certainly will. Now, Faith and I must leave so we can prepare for the spell. Good day, Ms. Phillips."
"Later, F."
The two left the club before Fi could say one last thing. With a shrug, she said to herself, "They'll figure it out. I just hope they can handle the spell."
Hercules and Xander walked into Helen's Diner.
The two went up to the counter and noticed a woman with the name, Danielle.
"Excuse me?"
Danielle looked up at the source of the voice and took a step back in amazement, "You're…you're…you're Kevin Sorbo?"
Hercules chuckled, "Yes, I am. My friend and I have a few questions to ask you?"
She nodded, "You have a couple questions for me?"
Xander was getting a little impatient, but took a deep breath, and asked, "Yes, we do. Do you know where we can find, Anne Phillips?"
Before she could answer, Xander felt something in his chest, and was soon thrown back and flew out of the diner.
He landed outside and yelled, "Shit!"
Hercules said to the woman, "Be right back." He ran out of the diner and went to his younger friend, "you alright?"
Xander nodded, "Yeah, I think so. What the hell was that?"
The demigod said, "It looks like our ghost struck again."
Soon a being emerged, and growled, "You're becoming a nuisance, Boy. Stay away from Buffy!"
Xander bellowed, "No way in hell!"
The ghost launched himself on Xander and pinned him down on the ground. With gritting teeth, he sneered, "You're in no position to be making demands, Boy!"
Xander tried to move, but he couldn't. He tried to punch across the ghost's face yet he was still restricted.
"Help!" He gasped.
Hercules nodded and ran to his side. The demigod went for the waist, but his hands went right through. "Uh oh."
The teenager tried to breathe but could feel the hands of the ghost tightening around his heart. "Get…get…get." Soon, his eyes closed.
The ghost smiled, "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
Hercules went for Xander's hands and yanked him out from under the ghost. "You okay?"
He couldn't talk for he was too much out of breath.
"Xander? You okay?"
Again he didn't speak.
Rather than waiting for a reply, Hercules picked him up and carried him in his arms. The demigod looked at the ghost, "This isn't over."
He then ran to the car, the whole time hopinh Xander was alive.
Soon the car sped off. With the ghost dissolving into space knowing full well where the two were going
"Xander!"
Lorne looked down at the countertop. He didn't say anything,
"Lorne." Ash said sternly. "I don't have time to play games right now. Time's at the essence."
The demon looked up at the scarred man, "Listen, Ash. That book is heavy duty. The spell in there that you need is hard to deal with."
He asked with concern, "What kind of spell are we dealing with here, Lorne?"
The bar owner said, "Something's going to happen, and you're not going to like the set up for the spell."
The former promised one asked, "What are you trying to tell me?"
Lorne took a deep breath.
"Xander's going to have to die."
His eyes widened, and he growled, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Kevin Sorbo was driving the car down the street.
Next to him was Xander buckled into his seat. Still out of it no less.
Hercules looked at him, "Hold on. Just hold on."
"Anne!"
"What is it?" Buffy asked as she came out of the kitchen.
Danielle grinned, "You just missed Kevin Sorbo!"
Buffy asked confusingly, "I just missed Kevin Sorbo? Why is Hercules on or something?"
She shook her head, "No. Nothing like that. Kevin Sorbo was here. He was here with a boy. They were asking about you."
The Slayer nodded slowly, "Kevin Sorbo knows me?"
Danielle gave it some thought. "Well, may be not Kevin Sorbo per say. But the boy was. Definitely cute. Dark brown hair, brown eyes. Messy hair."
The waitress looked out at the door from behind. "They're out there. The boy and Kevin Sorbo are doing something. What I don't, know, but they were asking for you."
Buffy looked out the window, and her eyes widened, "Xander?"
It looked like Xander was getting strangled or something. She immediately ran to the door, looked at Danielle and said, "Be right back."
Buffy then ran outside, "Xander!"
But it was too late. Xander and Kevin Sorbo were gone.
She just stood there for a few seconds. Xander was here. Xander was at Helen's Diner. He knew about Anne Phillips being her name.
Buffy had to make sure he was okay. She opened the door and looked at her friend, "I'll be back. Got to make sure he's alright."
Hoping all her slayer speed would help, she ran after her friend. Praying beyond anything that he was alright.
The door to the cabin burst open as Hercules walked in carrying an unconscious Xander Harris.
The demigod grunted, "C'mon, Xander. This is no time to take a nap." He then placed his young friend on the couch.
Hercules checked his pulse, and it was there.
Sighing, he said, "Rest well, my friend. But not too long, you have your ghost to stop."
His eyes widened, and he growled, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"The spell," Lorne said with a pause, "the spell can only take place when the person who attacks the ghost is dead. Only a ghost can hurt a ghost. In this case anyway."
The former promised one glared at him, "Let me get this straight. In order for Xander to defeat this ghost, he's going to have to die. As in going to the great beyond?"
Lorne chuckled, "Not exactly. Xander will have three days before his ghost goes adios. Then he'll either go to the great beyond, get reincarnated as somebody else, or something else. It's all about choices. Another choice for him is, since it might be before his time, Xander will have the choice to go back to his body."
Ash looked down at his watch, "Lorne, I got to go. Meeting the others soon."
The demon nodded, "Talk to you later, Ashy Boy. Oh, and tell him after this, he's still in for a big adventure."
The clerk sighed, "You mean to tell me there's more after this ghost?"
The demon nodded, "Yeah. Sweetcheeks and Buffy will meet. But be prepared for something far more difficult then Casper."
Ash growled, "What else do we have to do?"
Lorne said simply, "I can't tell you that now. Go back to the cabin."
He would've objected, but Ash knew that his friends were in trouble. With a smile, the clerk said, "Catcha later, Lorne."
He then ran out of Caritas.
"Wesley, Faith! In here!"
The two entered the cabin to see Hercules and Xander in the living room.
Faith's eye's widened as she saw her best friend on the couch, "What the fuck happened to X?"
Hercules sighed, "Xander and I went to the diner and were about to talk to Buffy when the ghost threw him out of the diner. He attacked Xander and knocked him out."
The Slayer looked at her Watcher, "Tell me he's alright. Tell me he's going to wake up, make a lame ass joke, and stop this ghost problem!"
Wesley said calmly, "Let me check the book. Page 67 if I remember correctly."
She nodded, "That's what Fi said."
The Englishman flipped through the pages until he reached the destined. "Great," he muttered.
"What's the problem?" The demigod asked.
"It's in Italian. I'll have to translate."
Soon Xander's body started to convulse.
Faith yelled, "Hurry, Wes. Xander doesn't look too good."
Soon somebody appeared on top of Xander and wrapped his hands around the boy's neck. "Buffy is mine! Nobody is going to take her from me!"
Faith immediately grabbed her chackram and threw it at the ghost. "Get the fuck off of him!"
But the chackram went right through him.
The ghost chucked, "Nothing can hurt me."
Wesley smirked, "You're half right."
The actor turned to him, "How do we stop him?"
"The kid's going to have to die."
The ghost, Hercules, and Faith turned to see Ash running into the cabin. "What?" They asked in unison.
The Watcher nodded, "He's right. In order for Xander to stop him, he has to die, and read this spell."
The ghost's eyes widened, "Shit!"
He turned to his victim, and Xander's body stopped breathing. The teenager's body just stopped at that moment.
A bright light flashed in the room, and when it dissipated. Xander floated in mid-air with him saying, "Well now, this is new."
Soon the door burst open, and somebody whispered, "Oh God, I'm too late."
Xander looked at the visitor and whispered, "Buffy?"
Buffy just stared wide eyed at what was before her. Xander Harris. The man who became her best friend these past two years…
…laying on the couch…
…dead.
She shook her head and tears started to glisten in her eyes.
Buffy had to know. "What happened?" She asked in a low voice.
But before she could answer, a bright light filled the room and Xander appeared levitating above the ground.
"What's happening to me?"
The ghost leaped from his body and tackled the spirit. "You son of a bitch! You leave Buffy alone!"
Wesley said, "Xander, you're a ghost."
Xanderr tried to struggle free, but couldn't. He said with a grunt. "You mean I'm dead?"
Hercules agreed, "It appears that way, Xander. Which is good."
He showed a confused look, "How is being dead good?"
Faith answered, "You can stop Buffy's ghost problem."
Buffy looked at the young woman, "Somebody tell me what the hell is happening!" She saw the ghost attacking Xander. "Get the fuck off my friend!"
The blond slayer leaped into action and tried to grab the ghost, but she fell right through and landed on her face. "Dammit! Somebody tell me what the fuck is going on!"
Wesley said, "Xander, repeat these words. Repeat them, and this ghost will be stopped."
Immediately, the ghost covered Xander's mouth, "I'll make sure you can't talk."
Ash said, "We'd help you fight this guy, Xander. But only a ghost can hurt a ghost."
Xander nodded and kneed the ghost in the groin. "You leave Buffy alone! Tell me the words, Wes."
"Fantasma di lo maledetto persona."
He grabbed hold of the ghost and pinned him on the ground. "Fantasma di lo maletetto persona."
"Lasciare questo mundo di gen."
The ghost flipped Xander over so that he was on the floor. "Don't you dare say another word!"
Xander grinned, "Lasciare questo mundo gen."
"Mi rilascio tu di questo mundo."
"No!" the ghost screamed as he pushed Xander across the face. "Stop this right now."
Xander chuckled, "Mi rilascio tu di questo mundo."
Wesley continued, "Tu potere attraversare da lo mundo di lo morto."
The ghost felt something happen in the center of his chest as Xander said the next statement. "Tu potere attraversare da lo mundo di lo morto."
"Tu ara alla fine non soffrire." You are finally free.
Xander smiled, "Tu ara alla fine non soffrire."
As soon as Xander said that, Wesley closed the book, and a loud voice filled the room, "This isn't over! I'll find a way to come back!." Then the ghost vanished leaving Xander alone.
Xander said in a whisper. "Is it over?"
Faith's watcher nodded, "It appears that way, Mr. Harris. Congradulations."
Buffy growled, "Somebody tell me what the hell just happened!"
"This way team." Said a voice as the rest of SG-25 exited the stargate.
The archeologist of the group said, "So this is P3X8492."
Colonel Steve Kavenox nodded, "Sure is, Richard."
Steve said to his second in command, "Major Greene. Move it. We're on a mission here."
"That is correct." Ryan Banks said.
Richard looked in front of him at the temple in front if of him. "Dr. Jackson would love this."
Lisa Greene nodded, "He'd definitely would. C'mon, we better move it."
Steve agreed, "Good statement, Major. Let's move out."
With that said, SG-25 headed into the temple not knowing what was in store for them.
"In here, Richard!"
Richard Parker nodded, "What is it, Lisa?"
Lisa pointed to the sarcophagus. "Who do you think is inside?"
Richard yelled, "Steve, Ryan! You might want to take a look at this!"
I don't speak or know how to write Italian. I tried the best I could, and if I offend someone, I am sorry. These are what I was trying to translate into.
Fantasma di lo maledetto persona. -- Ghost of the cursed person
Lasciare questo mundo di gen.--Leave this world of flesh
Mi rilascio tu di questo mundo.--I release you of this world
Tu potere attraversare da lo mundo di lo morto. --You may crossover to the world of the dead.
Tu ara alla fine non soffrire.--You are finally free.
Buffy growled, "Somebody tell me what the hell just happened!"
Xander approached her, still in his phantasmal form, and stared at her. "Buffy?"
She looked up at him, raised her hand, and tried to caress his cheek. But her hand went right through. "You really are dead." Tears started to cascade down her cheeks.
Buffy then remembered something.
The blond glanced at Kevin Sorbo, "And when did you meet Kevin Sorbo?" she then saw Ash, "and the guy from S-Mart?" Buffy looked around the room, "When did you meet all these people, Xander. How did you meet them? And how is being dead a good thing?"
Xander chuckled, "I'll answer all your questions in a second, Buff." He turned to Wesley, "How do I get into my body?"
Ash replied, "According to Lorne. You have choices now, Kid. You can either go to heaven, get reincarnated, or go back to your body."
He nodded, "But how do I do that, Ash?"
The Englishman stated, "Well, from what I read in this book. All you have to do is go back to your body and dive in. The body should naturally take its soul back."
The boy said, "So all I have to do is dive into my body?"
He nodded, "That is correct, Xander. Then we'll explain everything to Ms. Summers."
Hercules nodded, "Good idea. I'd like to know how she found you're cabin, Ash."
Xander approached his body and looked down at it, "This is weird."
Buffy stood next to him, "Tell me about it, Xan. I've been through a lot too."
He turned back to her, "I mean, this is my body, and yet I'm not in it. I guess I finally had a out of body experience "
She chuckled, "I really missed you. When you're whole, we have a lot to talk about."
Xander nodded, "Yeah, we do." He then took a deep breath, "Here goes nothing."
Soon, the brunette jumped into his body. His body immediately grabbed onto its soul. Two eyes fluttered open. "Am I alive again?"
Hercules approached his young friend, "Welcome back, my friend. You did it, Xander. You found Buffy."
He chuckled, "More like she found me."
Buffy walked up to Xander and raised her hand to his cheek. She caressed it again, but this time, his rough skin yet smooth and soft was felt by her fingertips. "You're alive." She pulled him into a big hug. "You're alive. I missed you."
He returned the hug, "Missed you too, Buff."
"X, mind introducing us."
Xander chuckled, "Right." He withdrew himself from Buffy and said to her, "Buffy, this is Faith Williams. Another vampire slayer. Kevin Sorbo is next to you. Beside him, Who I believe you met, is Ash Williams. And the British guy with the book is Faith's watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Everyone, this is my friend, Buffy Summers."
Buffy helped Xander up and stood next to him, "Hi. Xander, what's this about a ghost?"
The boy began his tale, "It all started when I saw you leaving Sunnydale. I found out you were going to LA, and decided to find you. I didn't want to see one of my best friends die especially after everything that happened."
Buffy Summers knew that he cared about her, and through the past three weeks, she grew to know Xander Harris more and more. He was her best friend now. Somebody she knew who would go at any means to find her.
"Xander, you can say it. I sent Angel to hell, and it hurt. But Los Angeles has been good to me. I got a job and a place to stay. Been working at Helen's Diner since then under the name, Anne Phillips. By the way, how did you find out about my name being Anne Phillips?"
Wesley grinned, "I believe I can answer that."
"Um, guys?"
They turned to face their friend.
Xander continued, "Do you mind if I take Buffy back to my apartment so we can talk? Just the two of us. I'll call you when we're caught up."
Ash grinned, "Not at all, Kid. Take all the time you need. Also know that according to Lorne, we still have something to stop. It looks like you two still have some stuff to do before we can go to Sunnydale."
"We?" Buffy asked.
Xander nodded, "I'll explain everything, Buffy. C'mon, let's get going."
With that said, the two friends left the cabin and headed for Xander's apartment.
"What do we got, Richard?" Steve asked him.
Richard replied, "Lisa found this sarcophagus."
Ryan approached the piece of alien technology. "Do you think we should open this?"
Lisa Greene walked up to her team. "We better be prepared for whatever might come out, Colonel."
Steve nodded, "Right you are, Major." He glanced at Richard. "Be careful."
Richard walked do the sarcophagus and went for the control panel. "How do you open these?"
The colonel joined the archeologist. "According to Teal'c. Do this." He then opened the sarcophagus and noticed a blond woman inside.
"Is she goa'uld, Colonel?" asked Major Lisa Greene.
The woman's eyes snapped open and she leapt out of the sarcophagus. "I'm not goa'uld." She grabbed Lisa's neck. "I'm something else." With a quick movement of the head, Lisa's neck broke.